Minnesota’s Safest Cities of 2024

See crime rates for the safest cities.

In our most recent State of Safety survey, residents of Minnesota (43%) were less likely to worry about their safety on a daily basis than most Americans (47%). This makes sense since Minnesota’s crime rates fall below the national rates for both property crime and violent crime.

All of Minnesota's 20 safest cities reported violent crime and property crime rates well below the state average.

Minnesota's violent crime rate rose from 3.2 incidents per 1,000 people to 3.4, while property crime decreased from 20.6 per 1,000 to 19.9.

Even with the increase in Minnesota's violent crime rate this year, the state remained below the national average (4.0), coming in as the fifteenth lowest state for per capita violent crime. Its property crime rate is 4% lower than the national rate of 20.7 incidents per 1,000 people.

This is the second consecutive year where property crime has gone down statewide. Even so, the state is ranked twentieth highest in property crime.

• Minnesotans reported more personal experiences with property crime this year (28%)—17% higher than last year.
• 41% of survey respondents reported experiencing package theft in the 12 months prior to the survey (US 35%).
• 37% of respondents said they increased security measures in the 12 months prior to the survey.
• 29% of Minnesotans surveyed say they don't use any form of property protection (US 25%).
• The top form of property protection in Minnesota this year is security cameras with 39% using them (US 39%).

A slight rise in Minnesota's violent crime rate this year reflects that more than four in 10 survey respondents (41%) don't feel safe in the state. This growing unease is out of step with a decrease in personal experiences with violent crime and gun violence compared to the last reporting year.

• 41% of Minnesota residents report feeling safe in their state compared to 45% of Americans.
• 12% of survey participants reported having a personal experience with violent crime in the 12 months prior to our survey—7 percentage points lower than the previous year, and the tenth-lowest in the US.
• Although this is the fourth consecutive year the violent crime rate has risen, Minnesota still has the fifteenth lowest violent crime rate in the nation.
• 29% of respondents use some form of personal protection—lower than the national average of 36%.
• Pocket knives are the most-used form of personal protection, followed by pepper spray.

Overall, gun violence is a bigger concern for The North Star State than the year before with a 27% increase in gun violence worries. Fortunately, fewer survey respondents reported a personal experience with gun violence this year (12%) compared to last year's report (16%).

• 56% of Minnesotans said they were concerned about gun violence—lower than the US average of 51%.
• There were 12 mass shootings in Minnesota in 2023, matching the two previous years.
• 31% of respondents use a concealed firearm for personal protection and 23% use a firearm to protect their home.

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

• 142 cities qualified for ranking this year.
• 5 of the top 20 safest cities are new to our list this year: Goodview, Elko New Market, Lonsdale, Bayport, and St. Charles.
• No city reported more than 1 violent crime per 1,000 residents.
• Montevideo held on to the #1 spot for the second consecutive year.
• Goodview and New Ulm join Montevideo with zero violent crimes reported in the reporting year.
• Belle Plaine made a big move on this year's report, jumping 38 spots to round out the top 20.
• Every safest city reported fewer than 8 property crimes per 1,000 people.
• 5 cities saw zero burglaries: Montevideo, Goodview, Elko New Market, Bayport, and Hibbing.

• Best Home Security Systems
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• Best Video Doorbell Cameras
• Burglary Stats & Facts
• Over 50% Of All Burglaries Are Residential—How To Protect Your Family
• The Best Personal Safety Devices for Every Situation

Find all endnotes and sources in our full methodology.

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed March 18, 2024.

• 2022 and 2021 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
  • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
• 2022 NIBRS Estimation Tables

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed March 18, 2024.

Gun Violence Archive, "Mass Shootings." Accessed March 18, 2023.