The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Walker, MI
Walker is a city of 27,100 in Kent County, about 4 miles northwest of downtown Grand Rapids · Updated November 2026
Is Walker, MI safe?
Yes, crime in Walker is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Walker sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 50% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 837 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Walker as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Walker scores 837.
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 Walker, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Walker, 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 Walker
Reported rapes run high for an A-graded city. Walker has 0.70 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.25.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Walker, 46% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Walker
Every part of Walker where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Walker run from A to B+; 47% of residents live in areas with 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 Walker, the north side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Walker?
Reported crime in Walker has held about steady since 2019: violent crime is up 7% and property crime down 1%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.0 to 2.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 24 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
WalkerUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Walker. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Walker
Violent, US
Property, Walker
Property, US
2016
-18%
+4%
+9%
+15%
2017
+2%
+4%
-8%
+12%
2018
+34%
+0%
-13%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-13%
+4%
-11%
-8%
2021
-17%
+6%
+4%
-10%
2022
-1%
+5%
+17%
-6%
2023
+18%
+2%
+6%
-7%
2024
+7%
-4%
-1%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Walker
CrimeGrade™ estimates Walker has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 16% more than the US as a whole and 25% 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.
Theft makes up about 48% of crime reported in Walker. Assault is less common but 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.
The Walker Police Department's 2024 count of burglary fell far below its usual level, a sign of a reporting break, so CrimeGrade™ used the department's earlier years instead.
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 Walker
Walker has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Walker, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 46% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (35%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
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 Walker compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to Walker, 5 have less crime. Marne and East Grand Rapids have the least.
Two things set Walker apart: it has 5.1 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 94 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and theft runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.5.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 98% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.94 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 96% 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. 83% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (14 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 63% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.7% of homesUS: 7.1%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.14.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 86% 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 Walker: D (17 of 100).9 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 83% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Walker on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Walker
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Walker about $963 a year per household, 20% 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 $29 million a year, or $1,086 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.3 million
$46
Rape
$1.1 million
$42
Robbery
$99,000
$4
Assault
$3.9 million
$143
Burglary
$380,000
$14
Theft
$2.9 million
$107
Vehicle theft
$870,000
$32
Arson
$41,000
$2
Vandalism
$490,000
$18
Total
$11 million
$408
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 Walker 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 Walker, MI average a SchoolGrade of B: 43% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Walker on SchoolGrade
