South Dakota’s Safest Cities of 2024

See crime rates for the safest cities.

If you call The Mount Rushmore State home, chances are you don’t spend a lot of time worrying about crime and safety. South Dakota’s level of concern in our State of Safety survey is the lowest in the country. But both violent crime and property crime saw increases year over year in South Dakota.

South Dakota saw its per capita crime rates rise year over year. The property crime rate went up from 18.9 incidents per 1,000 people last year to 19.2—but it's still below the nationwide rate of 20.7. The violent crime rate bumped up to 4.1 incidents per 1,000 from 3.9 last year. That rate puts the state just over the nationwide rate of 4.0.

Across the 44 states that met reporting requirements this year, South Dakota has the twenty-third lowest violent crime rate and the twenty-first lowest property crime rate.

South Dakota generally keeps property crime rates low, but survey respondents aren't resting on past successes. Both personal experience with and concern about property crime rose year over year.

• 44% of survey respondents told us they're highly concerned about property crime—up 10% from last year, but still lower than nationwide sentiment with 52% worried.
• Reported experience with property crime rose 29% year over year, from 21% to 27%, matching the nationwide level.
• 73% of survey participants use some form of property protection (US 75%).
• The top forms of property protection among South Dakotans are security cameras (38%) and guard dogs (34%).
• 36% of respondents increased security measures for their South Dakota home in the 12 months prior to the survey (US 35%).

• 25% of survey respondents in South Dakota reported experiencing package theft in the 12 months prior to the survey (US 35%). This makes South Dakota the state with the fewest package theft experiences in the US.
• 40% of participants expressed a high level of concern about package theft—below the US average of 53%.
• 72% of respondents said they take measures to prevent package theft. 
• The preferred methods of package protection in South Dakota are verified delivery (25%) and video doorbells (19%). 

Concern about violent crime—and proactive measures to protect oneself—are lower in South Dakota than in most other states despite violent crime rates that just above the national average. South Dakotans also told us they experienced violent crime 21% less often than the national average.

• The statewide violent crime rate rose 5% year over year, from 3.9 incidents per 1,000 people to 4.1—just over the nationwide rate of 4.0.
• 76% of respondents said crime is increasing overall, versus 73% nationwide.
• 27% of survey respondents use some type of personal protection like pepper spray (US 36%).
• The top forms of personal protection used by South Dakota respondents this survey year were concealed firearms (63%) and pocket knives (48%). This is higher than the national averages for pocket knives (US 42%) and concealed firearms (US 41%).

• 32% of South Dakota residents are worried about a gun violence incident happening to them (US 51%). 
• During the survey year, respondents in South Dakota experienced fewer gun violence incidents (11%) than the most of the country (US 12%).
• There were no mass shooting incidents in South Dakota in 2023.
• More South Dakotans rely on firearms for protection than most Americans: 63% carry a concealed firearm for personal protection (US 41%) and 30% rely on a firearm to protect their property (US 28%).

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.

• 13 cities met criteria to be considered for ranking.
• Brandon is the safest city in South Dakota for the fifth year in a row.
• Brookings held onto the No. 2 spot for the second consecutive year.
• Watertown climbed one spot to No. 3 this year.
• Tea and Aberdeen are new to the top 5 safest cities this year.
• The violent crime rate in the safest cities is 2.3 incidents per 1,000 people—almost half of state (4.1) and national rates (4.0).
• The property crime rate in the safest cities is 14.2 incidents per 1,000—26% lower than the state rate (19.2).

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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.