The Grand Rapids metro area, the 50th-largest in the US, is home to 1.16 million residents; Grand Rapids itself is the second-largest city in Michigan · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in the Grand Rapids area?
The Grand Rapids area earns an A- for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 57% of Americans live. Assaults make up 94% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. The city of Grand Rapids itself grades B- for violent crime.
A-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 830 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
43% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than the Grand Rapids area as a whole, and 57% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. The Grand Rapids area scores 830.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Grand Rapids, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Grand Rapids area, 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 about violent crime in the Grand Rapids area
One part of Grand Rapids stands out for robbery. Robberies in Garfield Park, in south Grand Rapids, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Murder is less common here. The Grand Rapids area has about 27 murders a year, a rate less than half the national one.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in the Grand Rapids area
Most of the Grand Rapids area grades well for violent crime: 88% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 6% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across the Grand Rapids area run from A+ to F.
88%
A or B 88%C 6%D or F 6%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Grand Rapids
1Norteast Citizens Action, northeastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.A849
2Eastown, Fulton Heights & Michgan Oaks, eastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.A-824
3Millbrook, South East End & Ridgemoor, southeastRobberies run at less than half the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.B+753
4West Grand & Westside, northwestClose to the rest of Grand Rapids on most crimes.B-612
5Creston, northRobberies run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Grand Rapids.B-543
8Roosevelt Park, southwestRobberies run at about triple the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.D-127
9Garfield Park, southAggravated assaults run at more than double the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.F0
Neighborhood areas of the city of Grand Rapids, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Cities and towns in the Grand Rapids metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Violent crime rates and types in the Grand Rapids area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Grand Rapids area has about 16 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 20% more than the US as a whole and close to Michigan.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in the Grand Rapids area, about 94% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in the Grand Rapids area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the Grand Rapids area, 2022 to 2024.
In the Grand Rapids area, 55% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 35% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (55%)
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.
Violent crime in the Grand Rapids area and nearby metro areas
The Grand Rapids area has less violent crime than 9 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Madison area has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Grand Rapids area. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Grand Rapids area is safer than 59% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets the Grand Rapids area apart: it has 12% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery; here robbery sits near the national middle.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.12% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 70% of Americans in metro areas
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Grand Rapids area: D- (8 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 60% of Americans in metro areas
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 violent crime costs the Grand Rapids area
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs the Grand Rapids area about $1.19 billion a year, or $1,027 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $295 million, or $254 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 75% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$50 million
$43
Rape
$44 million
$38
Robbery
$10 million
$9
Assault
$191 million
$164
Total
$295 million
$254
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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. These figures cover the whole Grand Rapids metro area. 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
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.
