Michigan’s 20 Safest Cities of 2020

The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the sixth annual Safest Cities report. Here are the 20 Safest Cities in Michigan for 2020. See if your city made the list.

People in Michigan are less worried about their safety on a daily basis than most of the country. Those who live in one of the state’s safest cities are likely even less concerned because crime rates are well below state and national averages in every city that made the list. 

See if your town is one of Michigan’s safest cities of 2020. 

Our 2020 State of Safety study revealed that 41% of Michiganders feel high concern about safety every day—five points below the national average of 46%.

View the complete 2020 State of Safety report.

Michigan is one of the only states to report less personal experience with crime year over year. Those who had a personal experience with violent crime over the past 12 months decreased from 10% in 2019 to 8% this year. Nationwide, 12% reported experiencing violent crime.

Surprisingly, at 4.5 incidents per 1,000, Michigan’s violent crime rate is higher than the national rate of 3.7. Its property crime rate is 16.5 incidents per 1,000—that’s far below the national rate of 22.0.

Experience with property crime fell one percentage point from 14% last year to 13% this year, which is half the nationwide average of 26%. 

Violent Crime in Michigan: Fear vs. Reality

Michigan worries most about being physically assaulted by a stranger, but respondents reported that they feel getting murdered by a stranger is more likely to happen. Whether murder or assault, the majority of crimes are typically carried out by people the victim knows rather than a stranger.

• 37% expressed the most concern about being physically assaulted by a stranger, compared to 40% nationwide.
• Aggravated assault is the most prevalent violent crime in the Great Lake State, comprising 65% of the violent crime reported among the safest cities and 69% across the state.
• 23% named murder by a stranger as the violent crime that’s most likely to happen—right on target with the national average of 23%. 
• Murder was the least common violent crime in Michigan. There were just three murders reported among the safest cities, making up 2% of all the violent crime reported by those cities. Murders make up just 1% of all violent crime in the state.

Property Crime in Michigan: Fear vs. Reality

The most concerning property crime in Michigan is someone breaking in when residents aren’t at home. That’s also the crime they feel is the most likely to actually happen.

• 61% express high concern about someone breaking in when they’re away from home. The national average is 62%.
• 33% think someone breaking in when they’re not at home is the most likely property crime that could happen versus 38% nationwide. 
• Burglary made up just 18% of all property crime among the safest cities and 19% statewide.
• Iron Mountain, the second safest city, reported zero burglaries in 2018.
• 17% of Michigan respondents have a security system to protect their home, versus 24% across the country. 
• 26% use a dog or other guard animal compared to 33% nationwide.
• 29% use no form of protection or security, which matches the national average of 29%.

A Closer Look at Michigan’s Safest Cities of 2020

For the purposes of this report, the terms “safest” and “dangerous” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• Oakland Township jumped 11 spots to become the safest city in the state this year, with just 34 total crimes reported.
• 80% of the cities improved in rank year over year, with Raisin Township climbing 82 spots and Rochester jumping 69.
• Only three cities dropped in rank, including last year’s number one safest city Grosse Ile Township. 
• Even though Michigan has a higher violent crime rate than the national average of 3.7, every city on the list had fewer than 1.5 incidents per 1,000. 
• A full 90% of the cities reported fewer than one violent crime incident per 1,000.
• 100% reported fewer than 20 total violent crimes. Addison Township had the least with just one, and Independence Township had the most with only 16.
• All cities are below well both state (16.5) and national (22.0) property crime rates, and no city reported more than 5.2 incidents per 1,000.
• Iron Mountain, the number two city, had a property crime rate of 1.2—the lowest among the safest cities.

The 20 Safest Cities in Michigan

VC = Violent Crime
PC = Property Crime

How We Determined the Safest Cities

Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.

How to Make a Safe Home Anywhere

Whether your city made our list or not, we recommend adding extra security to your home with monitored security services provided by the nation’s leading home security providers.

To learn more about your home security options, check out SafeWise’s picks for Best Home Security Systems.

Didn’t Find Your City in the Top 20?

We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, which is based on the median population of the state. See how the remaining cities ranked in the list below.

NOTE: If you don’t see your city on the list, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2018.

Sources

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, “2018 Crime in the United States”
SafeWise, “2020 State of Safety”
US Census Bureau, “American Fact Finder”
BestPlaces, “Find a Place Search Tool”