Norton Shores, MI carries a PlainCrime B safety grade with violent crime 45% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Norton Shores, MI shows violent crime at 192 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,883.9 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 45% 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
192/100K violent
1883.9/100K property
-45% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Norton Shores, MI
Comparable rate records
Norton Shores's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Michigan cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Norton Shores's 192.0 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Ishpeming (193.7), Fremont (194.8), Lowell (195.6), Marquette (188.3). 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
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 9.2% of the 519 Part I offenses reported in Norton Shores for 2024, against a median of 16.8% across comparable Michigan cities — a gap of 7.5 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 185.9 per 100,000 in 2020 to 192.0 in 2024 (+3.3%). The highest observed value was 240.0 in 2023 and the lowest 185.9 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
Norton Shores sits mid-pack among comparable Michigan cities
At 192.0 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Norton Shores ranks 182 of 366 — above 184 of the 365 other Michigan cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +2.7% 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 Norton Shores'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.
Norton Shores's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 23.2 Census sq mi, Norton Shores logged 20.3 property and 2.1 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Norton Shores's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (73% of 519 offenses; mix index 5,496).
Violent offenses are only 9% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (23.2 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
-20%
240 → 192/100K
Property Crime Rate
-7.5%
2036.3 → 1883.9/100K
Property offenses lead Norton Shores's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs MI
Property Crime
471
1883.9
1395.3
Larceny-Theft
377
1507.9
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
51
204
-
Burglary
43
172
-
Arson
2
8
-
Violent Crime
48
192
431.4
Aggravated Assault
37
148
-
Rape
10
40
-
Robbery
1
4
-
Murder
0
0
-
Norton Shores Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Norton Shores 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
Norton Shores Police Department
Reporting agency for Norton Shores NIBRS-participating
Norton Shores Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Norton Shores's 519 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 Norton Shores in population. Their populations run from 23,778 to 26,094, against 25,001 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Norton Shores reported 48 violent crimes and 471 property crimes, for a total of 519 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Norton Shores?
From 2023 to 2024, Norton Shores's violent crime rate decreased by 20%, and the property crime rate decreased by 7.5%.
What is the most common crime in Norton Shores?
The most common crime type in Norton Shores is larceny-theft, accounting for 72.6% of all reported crimes (377 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Norton Shores 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 Norton Shores, MI rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.