Malden, MO carries a PlainCrime D safety grade with violent crime 64% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Malden, MO shows violent crime at 576.7 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,701.3 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 64% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade D from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
D safety grade
576.7/100K violent
1701.3/100K property
+64% vs U.S.
The verdict
Malden earns a D safety grade: violent crime runs 64% above the U.S. average, placing it among the highest-crime cities in the country.
D
PlainCrime safety grade
+64%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
11th
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
1,701.3
property crimes per 100K
Based on 20 reported violent incidents in a population of 3,468. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Malden, MO
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Malden reported 20 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 3,468. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 1220.5 per 100,000 in 2020 to 576.7 in 2024 (-52.7%). The highest observed value was 1220.5 in 2020 and the lowest 397.5 in 2023. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
Malden reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Missouri cities
At 576.7 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Malden ranks 36 of 272 — above 236 of the 271 other Missouri cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +212.9% against the cohort median of 184.3. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Comparable rate records
Malden's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Missouri cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Malden's 576.7 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Independence (571.2), Kennett (570.2), Houston (585.3), Sullivan (588.2). 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.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 25.3% of the 79 Part I offenses reported in Malden for 2024, against a median of 13.4% across comparable Missouri cities — a gap of 11.9 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
Property counts dominate Malden'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.
Based on 20 reported violent incidents in a population of 3,468. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
Small-city offense counts above are voluntary UCR submissions, not neighbourhood advice. Year-to-year swings can look large when the population base is modest.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+45.1%
397.5 → 576.7/100K
Property Crime Rate
-26%
2299.8 → 1701.3/100K
Property offenses lead Malden's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs MO
Property Crime
59
1701.3
1971.6
Larceny-Theft
48
1384.1
-
Burglary
10
288.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
1
28.8
-
Arson
1
28.8
-
Violent Crime
20
576.7
463.3
Aggravated Assault
17
490.2
-
Robbery
2
57.7
-
Rape
1
28.8
-
Murder
0
0
-
Malden Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Malden property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
1,701.3/100K↓26%vs 2023
Malden violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
576.7/100K↑45.1%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
3,851
1220.5
1480.1
104
2021
Comparable
3,812
524.7
2413.4
112
2022
Comparable
3,568
532.5
2690.6
115
2023
Comparable
3,522
397.5
2299.8
95
2024
Comparable
3,468
576.7
1701.3
79
How Malden sits among MO peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
Malden Police Department NIBRS-participating
Malden's crime figures on this page originate from Malden Police Department's submission to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
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 Missouri
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Missouri cities closest to Malden in population. Their populations run from 3,171 to 3,626, against 3,468 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These Missouri cities report the closest violent-crime rates to Malden's 576.7/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
Malden has a violent crime rate of 576.7 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1701.3 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is Malden, MO safe? ▼
Malden receives a safety grade of D (Below Average), with a safety score of 28/100. The violent crime rate is 64% above the national average and 24% above the Missouri average.
What is the population of Malden, MO? ▼
The reporting population for Malden is 3,468 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in Malden? ▼
In 2024, Malden reported 20 violent crimes and 59 property crimes, for a total of 79 reported offenses.
How do Malden's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, Malden recorded about one reported offense per 44 residents and one reported violent offense per 173 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Malden? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, Malden's violent crime rate increased by 45.1%, and the property crime rate decreased by 26%.
What is the most common crime in Malden? ▼
The most common crime type in Malden is larceny-theft, accounting for 60.8% of all reported crimes (48 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Malden is sourced from FBI UCR Table 8 for 2024; rates use that row's population.
Small-city rows use the same per-100,000 formula; a few unreported years can leave gaps in the trend table. Verify the agency's submission on FBI.gov UCR.
Disclaimer (small city): UCR counts here are informational only. They are not a victimization probability. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Malden, MO rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.