The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Royal Oak, MI
Royal Oak is a city of 57,900 in Oakland County, about 13 miles northwest of downtown Detroit · Updated November 2026
Is Royal Oak, MI safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Royal Oak has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 68% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 903 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Royal Oak as a whole, and 32% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Royal Oak scores 903.
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 Royal Oak, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Royal Oak, 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 Royal Oak
Burglary runs low. Royal Oak has 0.64 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 2.4.
The safest and least safe parts of Royal Oak
Every part of Royal Oak where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Royal Oak run from A+ to A-; every part of Royal Oak has 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.
Within Royal Oak, the north side has the least crime and the southeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Royal Oak?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Royal Oak is up 11%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.1 to 1.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 7.4 to 7.9 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 21% and property crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Royal OakUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Royal Oak. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Royal Oak
Violent, US
Property, Royal Oak
Property, US
2016
+0%
+4%
+40%
+15%
2017
-16%
+4%
+24%
+12%
2018
-16%
+0%
+10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-7%
+4%
-7%
-8%
2021
-4%
+6%
-3%
-10%
2022
+23%
+5%
+8%
-6%
2023
+40%
+2%
+26%
-7%
2024
+11%
-4%
+6%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Royal Oak
CrimeGrade™ estimates Royal Oak has about 17 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 56% less than the US as a whole and 52% less than Michigan.
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 is the most common crime in Royal Oak, about 37% of everything reported, but assault 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 Royal Oak
Royal Oak has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Royal Oak, 57% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 35% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (57%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (41%)
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 Royal Oak compares with nearby cities
Royal Oak has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities.
Night lighting, walkability and transit in Royal Oak
Two things set Royal Oak apart: it has a Walk Grade of C (34 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 1.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Even so, 52% of residents in Royal Oak live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Very walkable places tend to report more theft and assault, yet theft and assault run lower here than that would suggest.
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Royal Oak: D+ (24 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 72% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 71% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.52 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 66% 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 Royal Oak
Crime costs Royal Oak about $331 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 73% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $26 million a year, or $453 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.0 million
$18
Rape
$440,000
$8
Robbery
$210,000
$4
Assault
$3.7 million
$65
Burglary
$330,000
$6
Theft
$1.8 million
$31
Vehicle theft
$1.1 million
$18
Arson
$29,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$18
Total
$9.7 million
$168
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 Royal Oak 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 Royal Oak, MI average a SchoolGrade of A-: 50% of students test proficient, against 45% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Royal Oak on SchoolGrade
