Safest Cities in Michigan

Top 50 safest cities in Michigan ranked by lowest violent crime rate per 100,000 residents. Includes cities with 10,000+ population.

FBI UCR Safest-Cities Snapshot: Michigan

Michigan's 50 safest cities for 2024 rank from Grosse Pointe Park (violent crime rate 18.2/100K) at the top of the list to Davison Township (violent crime rate 186.7/100K) at the bottom of this top-50 selection. Rankings are drawn directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions and include only cities with reporting populations of 10,000 or more residents, which keeps per-capita rate calculations statistically stable. The average violent crime rate across these 50 cities is 89.8 per 100,000 residents, well below the US national benchmark commonly cited in the 350–400 range.

At the top of the list, Grosse Pointe Park recorded 2 violent crimes and 172 property crimes against a reporting population of 10,982 in 2024. That works out to a property crime rate of 1566.2 per 100,000 residents alongside the 18.2/100K violent rate, both well below typical US municipal benchmarks. The top five safest Michigan cities on this list are Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Ile Township, Rochester, Lyon Township, Springfield Township, each submitting Part I offense counts to the FBI UCR Program for 2024.

Violent crime rate is used as the primary ranking metric because the four Part I violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) have higher reporting consistency than property offenses, which vary with local policing priorities and insurance-driven reporting. Michigan cities that missed this list either fell below the 10,000-population threshold, had incomplete 2024 UCR submissions, or were consolidated into county agency totals rather than reporting individually. For context on how the FBI collects and publishes these statistics, consult the UCR Program documentation; agency participation is voluntary and coverage can shift from year to year.

A safest-cities list is only as useful as the data behind it, so a few cautions are worth keeping in mind. The ranking rewards a low violent crime rate per 100,000 residents, the measure most consistent across places of different sizes; property crime is weighted more lightly because it tracks opportunity and reporting habits as much as genuine risk. Small communities can reach the top on the strength of a single quiet year, and a town that simply reports less thoroughly can look safer than one that documents every incident. Treat the order as a starting point for questions rather than a verdict, compare neighboring cities directly, and read the underlying counts before drawing conclusions about where it is genuinely safe to live.

Safest City
Grosse Pointe Park
Lowest Violent Rate
18.2/100K
Avg. Violent Rate
89.8/100K
Cities Listed
50
# Grade City Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
1 A Grosse Pointe Park 10,982 18.2/100K 1566.2/100K
2 A+ Grosse Ile Township 10,296 19.4/100K 242.8/100K
3 A+ Rochester 12,706 23.6/100K 377.8/100K
4 A+ Lyon Township 26,094 26.8/100K 268.3/100K
5 A+ Springfield Township 14,762 27.1/100K 392.9/100K
6 A+ Oakland Township 20,306 29.5/100K 172.4/100K
7 A+ Berkley 14,859 33.6/100K 343.2/100K
8 A+ Trenton 17,698 33.9/100K 542.4/100K
9 A+ Orion Township 35,833 36.3/100K 404.7/100K
10 A+ Bloomfield Township 43,611 36.7/100K 541.1/100K
11 A+ Hamburg Township 21,143 37.8/100K 184.5/100K
12 A+ White Lake Township 31,222 41.6/100K 435.6/100K
13 A+ New Baltimore 11,961 41.8/100K 401.3/100K
14 A+ Green Oak Township 20,129 44.7/100K 402.4/100K
15 A+ Milford 16,974 47.1/100K 282.8/100K
16 A+ Beverly Hills 10,332 48.4/100K 493.6/100K
17 A Plymouth Township 26,824 48.5/100K 652.4/100K
18 A Northville Township 30,866 48.6/100K 722.5/100K
19 A Birmingham 21,326 56.3/100K 642.4/100K
20 A+ South Lyon 12,010 58.3/100K 291.4/100K
21 A East Grand Rapids 11,441 61.2/100K 1083.8/100K
22 A Commerce Township 39,076 61.4/100K 614.2/100K
23 A+ Brandon Township 15,308 65.3/100K 169.8/100K
24 A+ Flushing Township 10,502 66.7/100K 295.2/100K
25 A West Bloomfield Township 64,892 81.7/100K 525.5/100K
26 A+ Oxford Township 19,165 83.5/100K 213.9/100K
27 A Farmington 11,334 88.2/100K 352.9/100K
28 A Tittabawassee Township 10,947 91.3/100K 328.9/100K
29 A Rochester Hills 75,960 92.2/100K 531.9/100K
30 A Grosse Pointe Woods 15,665 95.8/100K 1487.4/100K
31 A Novi 66,366 99.4/100K 655.5/100K
32 A Independence Township 37,059 102.5/100K 323.8/100K
33 A Woodhaven 12,447 112.5/100K 1542.5/100K
34 A Chesterfield Township 45,674 113.9/100K 1046.5/100K
35 A Troy 87,422 115.5/100K 1276.6/100K
36 A Midland 42,712 121.7/100K 655.6/100K
37 A Royal Oak 57,257 124/100K 801.6/100K
38 A Metro Police Authority of Genesee County 21,186 132.2/100K 868.5/100K
39 A Highland Township 19,047 136.5/100K 288.8/100K
40 A Lincoln Township 14,864 141.3/100K 841/100K
41 A Brownstown Township 32,439 151.1/100K 690.5/100K
42 A Shelby Township 79,985 160/100K 542.6/100K
43 B Fenton 11,808 169.4/100K 2396.7/100K
44 B Canton Township 97,844 172.7/100K 1051.7/100K
45 B Saginaw Township 40,864 173.7/100K 1426.7/100K
46 B Wixom 17,120 181.1/100K 969.6/100K
47 B Meridian Township 43,912 182.2/100K 1701.1/100K
48 A Ionia 11,900 184.9/100K 554.6/100K
49 B St. Clair Shores 57,157 185.5/100K 1065.5/100K
50 B Davison Township 20,357 186.7/100K 884.2/100K

Top Safest Cities in Michigan

Jump straight into the top five safest Michigan cities from this ranking, or launch the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What city in Michigan has the lowest crime rate?
Grosse Pointe Park, MI has the lowest violent crime rate among Michigan cities with 10,000+ population in this ranking, at 18.2 per 100,000 residents for 2024, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program data.
What is the safest area to live in Michigan?
Based on FBI UCR violent-crime rates, Grosse Pointe Park ranks safest among Michigan cities with 10,000+ population. The top 5 are Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Ile Township, Rochester, Lyon Township, Springfield Township. Smaller towns below the population threshold aren't included since low incident counts make their per-capita rates statistically unstable.
Is Michigan safe?
Michigan's 50 safest ranked cities average a violent crime rate of 89.8 per 100,000 residents, which is below the commonly-cited US national average. Safety varies significantly by city; see the full ranking above and each city's individual profile for specifics.

Methodology

Rankings are based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program data for 2024. The violent crime rate is calculated as the number of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) per 100,000 residents. Only cities in Michigan with a population of 10,000 or more are included. Cities that did not report crime data are excluded.

Source: FBI Crime in the United States, Table 8. Population figures cross-check against U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI populations are unavailable. Data reflects reported offenses and may not capture all criminal activity.