South Dakota is home to 907,400 residents; Pierre is its capital and Sioux Falls its largest city · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in South Dakota?
South Dakota ranks 4th safest of the 50 states and Washington, DC for violent crime, with a CrimeGrade™ of A+. Assaults make up 95% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 956 of 1,0004th safest of the 50 states and DCi What this means
86% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than South Dakota as a whole, and 14% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. South Dakota scores 956.
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 South Dakota at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Dakota, 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 South Dakota
Robberies are uncommon. South Dakota has robberies at less than half the US rate: 0.23 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in South Dakota
Low violent crime is the norm across South Dakota: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 4% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across South Dakota run from A+ to F.
91%
A or B 91%C 5%D or F 4%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
All 66 counties, 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.
Cities of 10,000 or more 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.
Is violent crime going up in South Dakota?
Reported violent crime in South Dakota peaked in 2020 and has fallen 30% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.5 to 3.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
South DakotaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across South Dakota. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, South Dakota
Violent, US
2016
+17%
+4%
2017
+17%
+4%
2018
+3%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+37%
+4%
2021
+10%
+6%
2022
+9%
+5%
2023
-2%
+2%
2024
-5%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in South Dakota
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Dakota has about 15 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% more than the US as a whole.
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 South Dakota, about 95% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 41% of the cost of violent crime here.
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 South Dakota
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across South Dakota, 2022 to 2024.
In South Dakota, 58% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 28% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (28%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
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 South Dakota and nearby states
South Dakota has less violent crime than 8 of its 10 nearest states; only Wyoming and North Dakota have less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from South Dakota. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with states of similar size, South Dakota is safer than 67% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets South Dakota apart: it has 5% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery, and it runs low here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 97% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for South Dakota: F (1 of 100).1 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 96% 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 violent crime costs South Dakota
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs South Dakota about $1.23 billion a year, or $1,355 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $267 million, or $294 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 78% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$81 million
$89
Rape
$29 million
$32
Robbery
$6.5 million
$7
Assault
$151 million
$167
Total
$267 million
$294
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. South Dakota 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.
