The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Thief River Falls, MN
Thief River Falls is a city of 12,000 in Pennington County, about 40 miles east of downtown Grand Forks · Updated November 2026
Is Thief River Falls, MN safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Thief River Falls has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 90% 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 962 of 1,000Safer than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
90% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Thief River Falls as a whole, and 10% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Thief River Falls scores 962.
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 Thief River Falls, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Thief River Falls, 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 Thief River Falls
Crime per resident runs higher than the grade. Thief River Falls draws many workers, shoppers and visitors: it has 85 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Crimes against them are counted against the few who live here, so crime per resident looks higher than the CrimeGrade™ suggests. The CrimeGrade™ counts everyone who spends time here.
The safest and least safe parts of Thief River Falls
Every part of Thief River Falls where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Thief River Falls run from A+ to A; every part of Thief River Falls 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 Thief River Falls, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Thief River Falls?
Reported property crime in Thief River Falls peaked in 2022 and has fallen 34% since, back near its 2019 level. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 15 to 14 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
Thief River FallsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Thief River Falls. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Thief River Falls
Property, US
2016
+94%
+15%
2017
+90%
+12%
2018
+57%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
-8%
2021
+17%
-10%
2022
+42%
-6%
2023
-8%
-7%
2024
-7%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Thief River Falls
CrimeGrade™ estimates Thief River Falls has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 31% less than the US as a whole and close to 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 is the most common crime in Thief River Falls, about 40% 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 Thief River Falls
Thief River Falls has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 58% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (45%)
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 Thief River Falls compares with nearby cities
Thief River Falls has the most crime of its 2 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Thief River Falls. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Thief River Falls is safer than 90% of them.
Parking lots, jobs and walkability in Thief River Falls
Two things set Thief River Falls apart: it has 5.8 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 85 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.5.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.85 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 93% 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 60% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 90% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 87% 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 Thief River Falls: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 Thief River Falls
Crime costs Thief River Falls about $526 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 56% 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 $6.8 million a year, or $562 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$280,000
$23
Rape
$310,000
$26
Robbery
$37,000
$3
Assault
$870,000
$72
Burglary
$140,000
$11
Theft
$640,000
$53
Vehicle theft
$170,000
$14
Arson
$32,000
$3
Vandalism
$330,000
$28
Total
$2.8 million
$233
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 Thief River Falls 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 Thief River Falls, MN average a SchoolGrade of B-: 38% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Thief River Falls on SchoolGrade
