The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Rochester, MN
Rochester is the third-largest city in Minnesota, with 131,700 residents in Olmsted County · Updated November 2026
Is Rochester, MN safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Rochester: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 62% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Rochester run from A+ to B-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 886 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Rochester as a whole, and 38% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rochester scores 886.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Rochester, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rochester, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Rochester
One part of Rochester stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Kutzky Park, Northrup Rochester & Historic Southwest, in central Rochester, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Aggravated assaults and robberies both run low. In Rochester, each runs at less than half the US rate: 0.92 aggravated assaults and 0.24 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 0.62 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Rochester
Every part of Rochester where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Rochester run from A+ to B-; 73% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1North River Court, northeastBurglaries run at about half the rate in the rest of Rochester.A+943
2Apple Hill, southClose to the rest of Rochester on most crimes.A888
3Elton Hills, John Adams & Viking Park, northClose to the rest of Rochester on most crimes.A885
4Cimarron, Northwest Rochester & Lincolnshire-Arbor Glen, northwestThefts run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Rochester.A876
5Meadow Park & Slatterly Park, southeastClose to the rest of Rochester on most crimes.A875
6East Side Pioneers, eastAggravated assaults run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Rochester.A-837
7Kutzky Park, Northrup Rochester & Historic Southwest, centralBurglaries run at more than double the rate in the rest of Rochester.A-829
Neighborhood areas of Rochester, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Rochester?
Reported crime in Rochester has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 25% and property crime down 28%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.0 to 1.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 19 to 14 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
RochesterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rochester. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Rochester
Violent, US
Property, Rochester
Property, US
2016
+4%
+4%
+16%
+15%
2017
-5%
+4%
-2%
+12%
2018
-5%
+0%
+11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+5%
+4%
+2%
-8%
2021
+18%
+6%
+8%
-10%
2022
+9%
+5%
-0%
-6%
2023
-20%
+2%
-15%
-7%
2024
-25%
-4%
-28%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Rochester
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rochester has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 33% less than the US as a whole and 18% less than Minnesota.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft makes up about 42% of crime reported in Rochester. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Rochester
Rochester has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Rochester, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 34% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Rochester compares with nearby cities
Rochester has the most crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Two things set Rochester apart: it has 79 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 2.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.79 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 91% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 83% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft and assault. 81% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 51% of US city residents
Show all 6
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.88% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 63% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 60% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.11% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 58% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Rochester
Crime costs Rochester about $634 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 47% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $34 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $98 million a year, or $747 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$6.3 million
$48
Rape
$2.1 million
$16
Robbery
$980,000
$7
Assault
$8.9 million
$68
Burglary
$2.0 million
$15
Theft
$7.0 million
$53
Vehicle theft
$1.8 million
$13
Arson
$130,000
$1
Vandalism
$4.4 million
$33
Total
$34 million
$255
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Rochester means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Rochester, MN average a SchoolGrade of B+: 40% of students test proficient, against 47% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Rochester on SchoolGrade
