Mitchell, SD carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 25% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Mitchell, SD shows violent crime at 262.7 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,967.1 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 25% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade C from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
C safety grade
262.7/100K violent
1967.1/100K property
-25% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Mitchell, SD
Comparable rate records
Mitchell's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the South Dakota cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Mitchell's 262.7 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Spearfish (263.6), Aberdeen (267.8), Yankton (273.9), Mobridge (279.8). 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 lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 451.5 per 100,000 in 2020 to 262.7 in 2024 (-41.8%). The highest observed value was 648.0 in 2021 and the lowest 262.7 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
Mitchell sits mid-pack among comparable South Dakota cities
At 262.7 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Mitchell ranks 16 of 39 — above 23 of the 38 other South Dakota cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +35.0% against the cohort median of 194.6. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 11.8% of the 348 Part I offenses reported in Mitchell for 2024, against a median of 16.0% across comparable South Dakota cities — a gap of 4.2 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 Mitchell'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.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
Mitchell's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 11.5 Census sq mi, Mitchell logged 26.6 property and 3.6 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Mitchell's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (72% of 348 offenses; mix index 5,344).
Violent offenses are only 12% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (11.5 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-23.8%
344.9 → 262.7/100K
Property Crime Rate
-11.2%
2216.3 → 1967.1/100K
Property offenses lead Mitchell's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs SD
Property Crime
307
1967.1
1535.5
Larceny-Theft
249
1595.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
32
205
-
Burglary
26
166.6
-
Arson
3
19.2
-
Violent Crime
41
262.7
320
Aggravated Assault
31
198.6
-
Rape
6
38.4
-
Robbery
3
19.2
-
Murder
1
6.4
-
Mitchell Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Mitchell 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
Mitchell Police Department
Reporting agency for Mitchell NIBRS-participating
Mitchell Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Mitchell's 348 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 South Dakota
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the South Dakota cities closest to Mitchell in population. Their populations run from 8,055 to 15,698, against 15,607 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Mitchell at 262.7/100K violent and 1,967.1/100K property - matched below outside South Dakota (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Mitchell reported 41 violent crimes and 307 property crimes, for a total of 348 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Mitchell?
From 2023 to 2024, Mitchell's violent crime rate decreased by 23.8%, and the property crime rate decreased by 11.2%.
What is the most common crime in Mitchell?
The most common crime type in Mitchell is larceny-theft, accounting for 71.6% of all reported crimes (249 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Mitchell figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Mitchell, SD rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.