Study Shows Minnesota’s 5 Most Dangerous Cities

I live in a safe, quiet, middle-class neighborhood. Our biggest worry is people speeding up and down the road, but we never fear for our safety. Not everyone is so lucky.

There are some rougher areas across the state. The team at Road Snacks just analyzed FBI data on violent and property crime per capita for every town with over 5,000 residents. They studied 127 cities across Minnesota to rank the most dangerous for 2024.

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Is Minnesota A Safe Place To Live?

Yes! Wallet Hub ranked Minnesota as the 8th safest state to live in. Five factors were considered in those rankings - Personal and Residential Safety, Road Safety, Financial Safety, Workplace Safety, and Emergency Preparedness.

Road Snacks, a real estate intel website, says "While Minnesota might not be one of the most dangerous states in the country, the state’s most dangerous places do need some work."

The 5 Most Dangerous Cities in Minnesota:

Fridley was named the 5th most dangerous place in Minnesota. According to Neighborhood Scout: "One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 21. Within Minnesota, more than 99% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Fridley."

The 5 Most Dangerous Cities in Minnesota:

Waite Park was ranked the 4th most dangerous city in Minnesota. Area Vibes says it has "a crime rate of 8061 per 100,000 people, which surpasses the national average by 246.82%, leading to one of the highest total crime rates in the United States."

The 5 Most Dangerous Cities in Minnesota:

St. Paul was named the third most dangerous city in the state.  Crimegrade.org gave the city an F and said "A crime occurs every 31 minutes" in St. Paul.

The 5 Most Dangerous Cities in Minnesota:

Minneapolis came in 2nd on the most dangerous list. The Move Crew says, "The violent crime rate in Minneapolis is 169.9% higher than the state average and 93.1% higher than the national average."

The 5 Most Dangerous Cities in Minnesota:

Bemidji is the most dangerous city in Minnesota. Area Vibes outlined a 2023 FBI report that said the violent crime rate there is 76.6% higher than the national average.

The Road Snacks report says: "Folks in Bemidji had a 1 in 12 chance of being the victim of a property crime. On top of that, Bemidji had the third highest violent crime rate in Minnesota, with an aggravated assault going down more than once a week, on average."