East Lansing, MI has a B safety grade (67/100) with a violent crime rate of 220 per 100,000, 38% below the national average.
FBI UCR 2024 · per-capita rates · large city
East Lansing, MI Crime Rate & Safety
At 50,472 residents, East Lansing is a large city: FBI UCR Table 8 rates (per 100,000) here are read against MI and U.S. averages before the offense-family breakdown.
East Lansing, MI carries a PlainCrime B safety grade with violent crime 38% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, East Lansing, MI shows violent crime at 219.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,220.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 38% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade B from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
B safety grade
219.9/100K violent
1220.5/100K property
-38% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for East Lansing, MI
Comparable rate records
East Lansing's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Michigan cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to East Lansing's 219.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Scottville (221.1), Clarkston (221.2), Walker (221.3), Otsego (223.0). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 158.0 per 100,000 in 2020 to 219.9 in 2024 (+39.2%). The highest observed value was 272.2 in 2022 and the lowest 158.0 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
East Lansing sits mid-pack among comparable Michigan cities
At 219.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, East Lansing ranks 160 of 366 — above 206 of the 365 other Michigan cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +17.6% against the cohort median of 187.0. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property counts dominate East Lansing's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
On a large city row, these are citywide reported offense totals - not neighbourhood advice. Conditions vary by place and time; reporting rates differ across jurisdictions.
East Lansing's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 13.4 Census sq mi, East Lansing logged 45.9 property and 8.3 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
East Lansing's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (68% of 727 offenses; mix index 4,975).
Violent offenses are 15% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (13.4 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Property rate moved most (2023→2024)
Property Crime Rate
-12.8%
1399.5 → 1220.5/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+9%
201.7 → 219.9/100K
Property offenses lead East Lansing's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
616
1220.5
1711
Larceny-Theft
497
984.7
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
87
172.4
-
Burglary
32
63.4
-
Arson
6
11.9
-
Violent Crime
111
219.9
352
Aggravated Assault
83
164.4
-
Rape
19
37.6
-
Robbery
7
13.9
-
Murder
2
4
-
East Lansing Crime Trend (2020-2024)
East Lansing property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
East Lansing Police Department
Reporting agency for East Lansing NIBRS-participating
East Lansing Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind East Lansing's 727 reported offenses (5-year span 2020-2024).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in Michigan
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Michigan cities closest to East Lansing in population. Their populations run from 43,912 to 57,257, against 50,472 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
East Lansing at 219.9/100K violent and 1,220.5/100K property - matched below outside Michigan (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, East Lansing reported 111 violent crimes and 616 property crimes, for a total of 727 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in East Lansing?
From 2023 to 2024, East Lansing's violent crime rate increased by 9%, and the property crime rate decreased by 12.8%.
What is the most common crime in East Lansing?
The most common crime type in East Lansing is larceny-theft, accounting for 68.4% of all reported crimes (497 incidents in 2024).
Large-city read: East Lansing's rates come from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, CIUS Table 8, vintage 2024.
Incomplete reporters stay out of rate rankings. Cross-check population with Census ACS; state UCR programs for statewide context. Primary verify links: FBI.gov UCR, Census QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (large city): informational crime rates only - not legal, insurance, or personal-safety advice. Source: FBI UCR. Ask a qualified professional before acting.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 East Lansing, MI rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.