State crime profile · 2024

North Dakota Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities

Crime data for 23 cities and 31 counties in North Dakota (ND), ranked safest to most dangerous from 111 reporting agencies.

256.7
Violent / 100K
1,705.7
Property / 100K
23
Cities
31
Counties

The verdict

North Dakota's 256.7 violent crimes per 100,000 runs 27% below the U.S. average, making it safer than most states.

256.7
violent crimes per 100K
-27%
vs. the U.S. average
18th
safest of 51 states & DC
1,705.7
property crimes per 100K

How safe is North Dakota? FBI UCR data snapshot

North Dakota (ND) reported 2,045 violent crimes and 13,587 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 111 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 256.7 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1705.7 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 796,568. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 23 North Dakota cities and 31 counties, each with their own detail pages and local crime figures drawn from FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10.

Within the statewide violent crime total, aggravated assault accounted for 0 incidents, robbery 0, murder and non-negligent manslaughter 0, and rape 0. Property crime splits across larceny-theft (0), burglary (0), motor vehicle theft (0), and arson (0).

Across 11 years of state-level UCR history (2014–2024), the violent crime rate moved from 269 to 256.7 per 100,000, a decline of 4.6%. City-level detail pages within North Dakota include safety grades (A+ to F), benchmarks against national averages, per-capita risk estimates, and multi-year trend tables for users comparing specific jurisdictions. All figures above are drawn from FBI UCR 2024 submissions; reporting completeness varies by agency, and the FBI periodically restates prior-year figures as late submissions arrive.

State figures roll up the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) submissions from local and county agencies across the state, then express them per 100,000 residents so one state can be compared with another. Statewide averages hide a great deal of variation: a handful of large cities often account for much of a state's reported violent crime, while most of its land area and population live with markedly lower rates. Reporting completeness also differs between states, so a year-over-year change can reflect which agencies filed data as much as any real shift on the ground. Read a state number as the broad backdrop, then drill into the city and county pages for the local detail that actually shapes day-to-day decisions.

Violent Crime Rate
256.7/100K
Property Crime Rate
1705.7/100K
Population
796,568
Data Year
2024

How North Dakota ranks nationally

North Dakota vs. every U.S. state

Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.

257 Safer than 65% lower than 65% of 51 U.S. states

0–100: 0 U.S. states (0%). Below this entry. 100–200: 6 U.S. states (12%). Below this entry. 200–300: 18 U.S. states (35%). This entry sits in this band. 300–400: 10 U.S. states (20%). Above this entry. 400–500: 12 U.S. states (24%). Above this entry. 500–600: 1 U.S. states (2%). Above this entry. 600–700: 2 U.S. states (4%). Above this entry. 700–800: 1 U.S. states (2%). Above this entry. 800–900: 0 U.S. states (0%). Above this entry. 900–1,000: 0 U.S. states (0%). Above this entry. 1,000–1,100: 1 U.S. states (2%). Above this entry. 1,100+: 0 U.S. states (0%). Above this entry. ND 0 1,100+ every state & DC, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band of values; taller bars hold more U.S. states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · 2024

Safest Cities

Top 50 by lowest violent crime rate

Most Dangerous Cities

Top 50 by highest violent crime rate

Crime Trends

Multi-year charts & analysis

Crime Trends

Year Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
2024 796,568 2,045 256.7 13,587 1705.7
2023 783,926 2,208 281.7 15,420 1967
2022 779,261 2,241 287.6 15,869 2036.4
2021 774,948 2,036 262.7 16,585 2140.1
2020 765,309 2,569 335.7 16,419 2145.4
2019 761,894 2,163 283.9 15,138 1986.9
2018 760,077 2,049 269.6 15,447 2032.3
2017 755,393 2,130 282 16,705 2211.4
2016 757,952 1,904 251.2 17,529 2312.7
2015 756,927 1,925 254.3 17,723 2341.4
2014 739,482 1,989 269 16,036 2168.5

Cities in North Dakota

Safest cities in North Dakota

Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows West Fargo is the safest sizeable city in North Dakota, at 163.8 violent crimes per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Highest violent-crime cities in North Dakota

Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Fargo reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in North Dakota, at 498.2 per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
North Dakota's largest cities — violent vs. property crime. X axis violent crime per 100K, Y axis property crime per 100K, split by the national averages. 6 cities; the anchor city is ringed. North Dakota's largest cities — violent vs. property crime SAFEST HIGHEST CRIME 147 538 Violent crime per 100K → 913 3,993 Property crime per 100K → Fargo: 498 violent · 3,697 property per 100K · grade F Fargo Bismarck: 278 violent · 2,400 property per 100K · grade C Bismarck Grand Forks: 359 violent · 2,282 property per 100K · grade C Grand Forks Minot: 319 violent · 1,403 property per 100K · grade C Minot West Fargo: 164 violent · 1,014 property per 100K · grade A Williston: 437 violent · 2,315 property per 100K · grade D Safety grade A / B C D / F
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are North Dakota's statewide averages · the four largest cities are labeled
City Population Violent / 100K Grade
Fargo 135,682 498.2 F
Bismarck 75,546 278 C
Grand Forks 58,848 358.6 C
Minot 47,041 318.9 C
West Fargo 40,915 163.8 A
Williston 27,211 437.3 D
Dickinson 24,910 297.1 C
Mandan 24,711 287.3 C
Jamestown 15,651 102.2 A
Wahpeton 7,995 237.6 C
Valley City 6,541 152.9 A
Watford City 5,949 302.6 C
Lincoln 4,479 67 A
Grafton 4,027 49.7 A+
Beulah 3,027 99.1 A
Lisbon 2,164 92.4 A
Stanley 2,133 187.5 B
Tioga 2,060 145.6 A
Carrington 1,987 50.3 A+
Bowman 1,394 71.7 A
Rolla 1,148 87.1 A
Wishek 837 119.5 A
Steele 648 0 A+

Counties in North Dakota

Largest counties in North Dakota, violent crime per 100K

Top 8 counties by population, violent crime per 100,000 residents. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
Barnes
Benson
Billings
Bottineau
Burleigh
Cass
Cavalier
Dunn
Emmons
Grand Forks
McHenry
McIntosh
McKenzie
McLean
Mercer
Morton
Mountrail
Nelson
Pembina
Ransom
Richland
Rolette
Sargent
Sheridan
Stark
Stutsman
Towner
Traill
Walsh
Ward
Williams

Nearby States

Compare North Dakota with neighboring states, or use the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.

New York
NY
North Carolina
NC
Ohio
OH
Oklahoma
OK
Oregon
OR

Explore North Dakota crime data

Safest cities → Most dangerous cities → Crime trends → National rankings → Crime grades → Methodology →

Primary source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Crime in the United States annual release. State-level trends cross-check against the FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) API.

Population figures for rate calculations reference U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI-reported populations are unavailable. Verify with Census.gov QuickFacts.

Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using PlainCrime rankings responsibly

Crime rankings are most useful when they sit alongside other community-quality signals, school performance, housing affordability, employment, and access to healthcare. A safer-than-average violent-crime rate in a small commuter suburb does not by itself make a city a better place to live; it is one data point among many. Likewise, a higher-than-average rate in a dense urban center may reflect that residents and visitors interact with police more often, not that the city is necessarily unsafe for its residents. We provide cross-links from each city profile to neighboring jurisdictions, state averages, and national benchmarks so you can read each number in context rather than in isolation.

For news outlets, researchers, and concerned residents who cite our rankings, the most defensible approach is to quote the per-100,000 rate, the reporting year, and the source agency in the same sentence. Avoid framing crime statistics as predictive, UCR data describes what was reported in a past year, not what will happen tomorrow. Where possible, pair our rankings with longitudinal trend data on the relevant city's profile page to show whether the rate is moving up, holding steady, or falling year over year.