The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Williams County, ND
Williams County is home to 39,600 residents and includes Williston and Tioga · Updated November 2026
Is Williams County, ND safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Williams County has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 82% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Williams County run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 941 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
82% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Williams County as a whole, and 18% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Williams County scores 941.
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 Williams County, ND at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Williams 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 Williams County
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Williams County, 60% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Williams County
Every part of Williams County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Williams County run from A+ to B; 49% 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.
Across the county, the east side has the least crime and the Williston area the most.
Is crime going up in Williams County?
Reported crime in Williams County has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 15% and property crime down 27%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.0 to 3.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 26 to 19 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Williams CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Williams County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Williams County
Violent, US
Property, Williams County
Property, US
2016
-30%
+4%
+6%
+15%
2017
-8%
+4%
+4%
+12%
2018
+16%
+0%
+1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-21%
+4%
-15%
-8%
2021
-30%
+6%
-42%
-10%
2022
-0%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
-11%
+2%
-21%
-7%
2024
-15%
-4%
-27%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Williams County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Williams County has about 49 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 32% more than the US as a whole and 27% more than North Dakota.
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 Williams County is assault, about 45% 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 Williams County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Williams County, 2022 to 2024.
In Williams County, 75% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (75%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (47%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (60%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (51%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
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 Williams County compares with nearby counties
Williams County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Williams County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Williams County is safer than 76% of them.
Empty homes, jobs and walkability in Williams County
Two things set Williams County apart: it has 22.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 65 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more burglary and arson, yet burglary runs lower here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.22.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.65 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 92% 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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 61% of Americans
Show all 6
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 Williams County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 80% 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.85% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 54% 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 Williams County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Williams County about $1,152 a year per household, about the same as 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 $45 million a year, or $1,150 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$940,000
$24
Rape
$1.4 million
$36
Robbery
$190,000
$5
Assault
$8.6 million
$218
Burglary
$990,000
$25
Theft
$3.0 million
$75
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$34
Arson
$250,000
$6
Vandalism
$1.8 million
$46
Total
$19 million
$469
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 Williams 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. Williams County is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Williams County, ND average a SchoolGrade of D-: 33% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Williams County on SchoolGrade
