Prior Lake, MN carries a PlainCrime A safety grade with violent crime 70% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Prior Lake, MN shows violent crime at 106.5 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,072.3 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 70% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade A from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
A safety grade
106.5/100K violent
1072.3/100K property
-70% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Prior Lake, MN
Comparable rate records
Prior Lake's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Minnesota cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Prior Lake's 106.5 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are North Branch (107.1), Eagan (103.1), Deer River (110.7), Melrose (110.7). 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 169.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 106.5 in 2024 (-37.1%). The highest observed value was 169.4 in 2020 and the lowest 106.5 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
Prior Lake sits mid-pack among comparable Minnesota cities
At 106.5 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Prior Lake ranks 133 of 276 — above 143 of the 275 other Minnesota cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +8.9% against the cohort median of 97.8. 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 Prior Lake'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.
Prior Lake's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 16.3 Census sq mi, Prior Lake logged 18.5 property and 1.8 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Prior Lake's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (81% of 332 offenses; mix index 6,653).
Violent offenses are only 9% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (16.3 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
-20.4%
133.8 → 106.5/100K
Property Crime Rate
-11.8%
1215.2 → 1072.3/100K
Property offenses lead Prior Lake's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs MN
Property Crime
302
1072.3
1711
1624.6
Larceny-Theft
269
955.2
-
-
Burglary
18
63.9
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
15
53.3
-
-
Arson
3
10.7
-
-
Violent Crime
30
106.5
352
259.4
Aggravated Assault
18
63.9
-
-
Rape
9
32
-
-
Robbery
2
7.1
-
-
Murder
1
3.6
-
-
Prior Lake Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Prior Lake 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
Prior Lake Police Department
Reporting agency for Prior Lake NIBRS-participating
Prior Lake Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Prior Lake's 332 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 Minnesota
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Minnesota cities closest to Prior Lake in population. Their populations run from 26,045 to 29,431, against 28,163 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Prior Lake at 106.5/100K violent and 1,072.3/100K property - matched below outside Minnesota (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Prior Lake reported 30 violent crimes and 302 property crimes, for a total of 332 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Prior Lake?
From 2023 to 2024, Prior Lake's violent crime rate decreased by 20.4%, and the property crime rate decreased by 11.8%.
What is the most common crime in Prior Lake?
The most common crime type in Prior Lake is larceny-theft, accounting for 81.0% of all reported crimes (269 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Prior Lake 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 Prior Lake, MN rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.