The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Southgate, MI
Southgate is a city of 29,400 in Wayne County, about 12 miles southwest of downtown Detroit · Updated November 2026
Is Southgate, MI safe?
Crime in Southgate is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 65% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Southgate. Violent and property crime both grade B+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Southgate run from A- to B-, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 739 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
35% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Southgate as a whole, and 65% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Southgate scores 739.
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 Southgate, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Southgate, 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 Southgate
Burglaries are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Southgate runs 32% above the US rate, but burglaries run 26% below it: 1.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Southgate, 50% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Southgate
Every part of Southgate where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Southgate run from A- to B-; every part of Southgate has more 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 Southgate, the northwest side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Southgate?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Southgate is up 70% and property crime is down 21%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.6 to 4.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 25 to 20 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
SouthgateUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Southgate. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Southgate
Violent, US
Property, Southgate
Property, US
2016
+4%
+4%
+17%
+15%
2017
+7%
+4%
+5%
+12%
2018
-39%
+0%
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+11%
+4%
-33%
-8%
2021
+35%
+6%
-21%
-10%
2022
+62%
+5%
-23%
-6%
2023
+61%
+2%
-20%
-7%
2024
+70%
-4%
-21%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Southgate
CrimeGrade™ estimates Southgate has about 49 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 32% more than the US as a whole and 42% 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Southgate is assault, about 46% of the total. It also makes up 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 Southgate
Southgate has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Southgate, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 50% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (50%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (50%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Southgate compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Southgate, 6 have less crime. Grosse Ile and Woodhaven have the least.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Southgate
Two things set Southgate apart: it has a Walk Grade of C- (31 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 28 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Even so, 56% of residents in Southgate live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Very walkable places tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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
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 Southgate: D+ (20 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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- (31 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 81% 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.2.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 76% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.28 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 75% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 72% 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 Southgate
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Southgate about $1,039 a year per household, 14% 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 $36 million a year, or $1,219 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$790,000
$27
Rape
$650,000
$22
Robbery
$260,000
$9
Assault
$7.1 million
$242
Burglary
$460,000
$16
Theft
$2.2 million
$75
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$43
Arson
$16,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.4 million
$46
Total
$14 million
$480
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 Southgate 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 Southgate, MI average a SchoolGrade of D: 31% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Southgate on SchoolGrade
