The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Minnesota

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Minnesota For 2026

When it comes to the Twin Cities, Minneapolis comes in as the naughtier sibling. Take our advice and buddy up in the City of Lakes, because, with an average of almost one murder a week, Minneapolis has the highest murder rate in Minnesota.

On top of that, Minneapolis had the eighth highest rate of rape cases in the state. Overall, residents had a 1 in 88 shot of being the victim of a violent crime.

Even your home is unsafe in Minneapolis, considering the city had the highest burglary rate statewide.

Still, if you stick to one of Minneapolis’s safest neighborhoods and use good judgment, you shouldn’t have to worry.

The home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, Bemidji gained some fame for being the location of Netflix’s Fargo.

It turns out, the crime dramedy actually let Bemidji off easy when it comes to crime rates, seeing as the real city ranks as the second most dangerous in Minnesota. Folks in Bemidji had a 1 in 16 chance of being the victim of a property crime over 2024, so watch your wallet, or you’ll be saying “oh, jeez” before you know it.

On top of that, Bemidji had the sixth highest violent crime rate in Minnesota, with an aggravated assault going down more than once a week, on average.

Like its Twin City, St. Paul is a victim of simply being a big city. Hey, when you have loads of fun neighborhoods and great things to do, more people are going to wander through and inflate your crime numbers.

Still, Minnesota’s capital city has come crime numbers that are hard to ignore. Like residents having a 1 in 160 chance of being the victim of a violent crime over a year. Or about two murders a month going down, which works out to the ninth highest murder rate in Minnesota.

And while property crime isn’t too bad in St. Paul, it still has higher rates of car theft and arson than Minneapolis, with 2,081 stolen cars and 178 arson cases recorded in 2024.

So the other Brooklyn is just across the bridge from Manhattan — one of the most iconic urban areas in the country. Brooklyn Center sits just north of Minneapolis. Sure, that’s the largest metro area in Minnesota… but not quite the same thing.

Still, this suburb has its charms, from golf courses to parks along the Mississippi River. However, it also has its drawbacks. And, no, we aren’t talking about the arctic winters. Rather, Brooklyn Center has a high crime rate. This includes 228 car thefts and 75 robberies in a population of 31,522 people.

The largest population center in central Minnesota, St. Cloud has gone up 1 places on this list since last year, so things are looking up. Unfortunately, it’s still one of the poorest cities in Minnesota, so the root causes of criminal activity persist.

You might need to stop by at one of St. Clouds peaceful gardens to catch your breath, what with all the violent crime going down.

St. Cloud had the 28th highest rate of rape cases in Minnesota for 2024. Overall, residents had a 1 in 291 shot of being violently attacked.

Look, we already named Maplewood as one of the Twin Cities’s worst suburbs, and a big reason why was Maplewood’s unimpressive crime statistics.

Be sure to keep an eye on your valuables if you go for a picnic in the park here, because Maplewood had 935 larcenies in 2024.

Also, lock your doors in Maplewood because the city had the tenth highest burglary rate in Minnesota. Overall, residents had a 1 in 32 chance of being the victim of a property crime over 2024.

The county seat of Crow Wing County, Brainerd is known for its awesome lakes. Unfortunately, it’s also known for high rates of violent crime.

For starters, Brainerd had about 1.5 rape cases per month over 2024, giving it the highest rate of rape cases in Minnesota. Overall, residents had a 1 in 174 shot of being violently attacked over the year.

Some of that’s due to a fairly regular stream of tourists, but it doesn’t change the fact that a lot of crime goes down relative to Brainerd’s native population.

Brooklyn Park, a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, has earned a reputation as one of the state’s most dangerous places to live. With a population of 81,920, Brooklyn Park has experienced a concerning level of crime in recent years. The city recorded 313 violent crimes, including 7 murders, 43 rapes, 82 robberies, and 181 aggravated assaults in 2026.

These crime statistics paint a troubling picture of safety in Brooklyn Park. The high incidence of violent crime per capita, which stands at 382/100k, contributes to its ranking as the tenth most dangerous place to live in the state.

Poor Minneapolis. The area surrounding the city dominates this list. Here, yet again, sits another of the state’s most dangerous areas.

Roseville lies to the northeast of the city center, about 15 minutes from downtown. The community itself began building up in the 1940s and saw massive growth in the 1950s and 1960s. Lately, the area’s history has become more troubled. Violence remains relatively rare, but property crime rates have reached epidemic proportions. This includes 131 burglaries and 32 robberies in a population of 35,466. Roseville suffers a large number of car thefts as well.

Most Dangerous Places To Live In Minnesota FAQs