The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Saginaw County, MI
Saginaw County is home to 188,700 residents and includes Saginaw and Frankenmuth · Updated November 2026
Is Saginaw County, MI safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Saginaw County has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 66% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Saginaw County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 732 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
34% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Saginaw County as a whole, and 66% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Saginaw County scores 732.
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 Saginaw County, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Saginaw County, 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 Saginaw County
Car thefts are less common than in most B-graded counties. Saginaw County has 1.7 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 3.5.
Robbery is a strength. Saginaw County grades B for violent crime, but robbery grades A.
Aggravated assaults run high. Saginaw County has aggravated assaults at more than double the US rate: 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Saginaw County
Safety changes a lot from one part of Saginaw County to the next: 74% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 21% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Saginaw County run from A+ to F; 58% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
74%21%
A or B 74%C 5%D or F 21%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Saginaw County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the St. Charles and Chesaning areas have the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Saginaw County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Saginaw County is up 28% and property crime is down 14%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.2 to 7.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 14 to 13 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Saginaw CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Saginaw County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Saginaw County
Violent, US
Property, Saginaw County
Property, US
2016
-3%
+4%
+19%
+15%
2017
+2%
+4%
+13%
+12%
2018
+8%
+0%
+9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+28%
+4%
-10%
-8%
2021
+39%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
+24%
+5%
-6%
-6%
2023
+34%
+2%
+2%
-7%
2024
+28%
-4%
-14%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Saginaw County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Saginaw County has about 40 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 7% more than the US as a whole and 15% more 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Saginaw County, about 49% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
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 Saginaw County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Saginaw County, 2022 to 2024.
In Saginaw County, 82% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 56% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (82%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (63%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (63%)
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 Saginaw County compares with nearby counties
Saginaw County has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest counties. Arenac County and Gladwin County have the least crime nearby.
Transit, density and walkability in Saginaw County
Two things set Saginaw County apart: it has 3% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and a Walk Grade of D (12 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less robbery, yet robbery runs higher here than that would suggest.
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 Saginaw County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 84% of Americans
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. 87% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 71% of Americans
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.9.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 81% of Americans
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.66% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 73% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 72% of Americans
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 Saginaw County
Crime costs Saginaw County about $1,708 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 42% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $134 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 $601 million a year, or $3,187 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$44 million
$231
Rape
$9.0 million
$48
Robbery
$2.4 million
$13
Assault
$53 million
$280
Burglary
$3.3 million
$18
Theft
$8.8 million
$47
Vehicle theft
$4.9 million
$26
Arson
$1.1 million
$6
Vandalism
$8.1 million
$43
Total
$134 million
$710
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 Saginaw County 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 Saginaw County, MI average a SchoolGrade of C: 37% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Saginaw County on SchoolGrade
