The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Thunder Butte, SD: Crime Maps and Statistics

Crime per Capita in Thunder Butte

This overview combines violent, property, and other offenses into a single grade for Thunder Butte. The dedicated violent crime and property crime pages go deeper on each. The map below shows the overall crime rate per 1,000 residents.

 

Thunder Butte, SD Map of Crime Rates
Click the map to explore
A+ B C D F
Safest Highest crime
Colorblind friendly off

D-

Overall Crime Grade™

C
D
Other Crime Grade
D-

$79,911

Cost of Crime™ for Thunder Butte, SD

In 2025, crime will cost $2,438 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of Thunder Butte with the least crime overall and red marks the most. Each area is weighted by the type and severity of every offense, so a place with rare but serious violent crime can grade differently from one with frequent petty theft. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read the colors.

Is Thunder Butte, SD Safe?

The D- overall grade blends the violent, property, and other grades shown above into one measure, set against the average US city, where Thunder Butte's combined rate is much higher than the norm. Thunder Butte sits in the 14th percentile, ahead of 14% of cities and behind 86%. The grade covers only Thunder Butte's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The overall crime rate in Thunder Butte is 43.27 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the north part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 22 in the northwest neighborhoods to 1 in 24 in the north.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the south parts of Thunder Butte, SD report the most crime, about 2 cases per year. The west part reports the fewest, around 0 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Thunder Butte, SD

Across all crime types, the projected cost of crime in Thunder Butte for 2025 is $79,911, about $807 per resident and $2,438 per household. That equals 2.6% of the median household income. These figures cover tangible costs, which include:
  1. Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 51.1%
  2. Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 36.8%
  3. Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 12.1%

How Much Does Crime Cost in Thunder Butte Compared to Other Cities?

Thunder Butte, SD: $807
Pine Ridge, SD: $1414
Hartford, SD: $223
South Dakota: $484
USA: $464

The overall cost of crime per resident in Thunder Butte is $807 per year, which is $343 more than the national average and $323 more than South Dakota's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Thunder Butte:
  • In Pine Ridge, SD, crime costs $1,414 per person, which is $607 more than in Thunder Butte.
  • In Hartford, SD, crime costs $223 per person, which is $584 less than in Thunder Butte

2025 Projected Cost by Type of Crime

The table below shows the total cost of crime to the residents of Thunder Butte for the year 2025 along with the projected cost per resident.
Crime
Cost to Thunder Butte
Cost per Thunder Butte Resident
Murder
$35,737
$361
Rape/Sexual Assault
$5,769
$58
Robbery
$1,399
$14
Assault
$5,022
$51
Kidnapping
$1,727
$17
Vehicle Theft
$5,030
$51
Burglary
$6,610
$67
Theft
$5,900
$60
Arson
$202
$2
Vandalism
$7,003
$71
Animal Cruelty
$57
$1
Drug Crimes
$4,579
$46
Identity Theft
$878
$9
Total Cost of Crime
$79,911
$807

The Intangible Cost of Crime in Thunder Butte, SD

The totals above count tangible costs only. Violent crime also carries a human cost, the pain and trauma borne by victims and their families, which research-based methods estimate so it can be compared across places. That intangible cost in Thunder Butte totals $265,867 ($2,686 per resident), and all of it comes from violent crime rather than property loss. Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $345,778 ($3,493 per resident). All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Crime Maps

Crime rates on the map are measured per resident, so areas with heavy visitor traffic can read high because crime follows crowds, even where few people live. The city holds few retail establishments, which lifts recorded crime around those blocks. A red area does not always mean the neighborhood is unsafe for residents.

Airports, parks, and transit hubs create the same effect. Major airports draw large crowds with few residents nearby, so they read as high-crime spots. Parks and recreational areas do the same, and of Thunder Butte's 99 residents few live beside them. Before assuming an area is unsafe, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Thunder Butte, SD at ISP Reports.

Thunder Butte Crime Breakdown

The tables below show which crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grades above. All crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 Thunder Butte residents in a standard year.

Violent Crime Rates

Crime Type
Crime Rate
Assault
1.766
Robbery
0.4493
Rape
0.9611
Murder
0.1921
Total Violent Crime
3.369 (C)
 
 

 


Property Crime Rates

Crime Type
Crime Rate
Theft
11.51
Vehicle Theft
3.281
Burglary
7.362
Arson
0.0844
Total Property Crime
22.23 (D)
 
 

 


Other Crime Rates

Crime Type
Crime Rate
Kidnapping
0.2876
Drug Crimes
6.253
Vandalism
9.901
Identity Theft
1.146
Animal Cruelty
0.0779
Total "Other" Rate
17.67 (D-)

 


Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of crime in Thunder Butte is lower. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to Thunder Butte.

Nearby City
Overall Crime Grade
Violent Crime Grade
Property Crime Grade
D-
C-
D
F
D-
F
D-
D
D
F
D-
F
F
D-
F
F
F
F
D+
C
A-
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
D-

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Thunder Butte is similar versus other cities of the same size for crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City
Overall Crime Grade
Violent Crime Grade
Property Crime Grade
F
F
F
F
F
F
A-
A
A
B
C-
C-
B
B
B
F
F
F
A
B
B
C+
D-
D-
A
A-
A-
A+
A+
A+

Considering only the crime rate, Thunder Butte is less safe than the South Dakota state average and less safe than the national average.

Safety and school performance are separate topics, but both shape moving decisions. Using SchoolGrade data, schools in Thunder Butte, SD average SchoolGrade of C, with 35% actual proficiency versus 32% projected; overall, schools exceed expectations. See Thunder Butte schools on SchoolGrade

About the Data

CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.

Crime By Zip Code Download

Our proprietary data is available for download by zip code or by state in a CSV Flat File. Please visit our download page for pricing and terms.

Download CSV

 

Home Security

A crime occurs on average every 34 days 22 hours in Thunder Butte. Want to protect your home?

Home Security Companies in Thunder Butte, SD

All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.