Michigan’s 50 Safest Cities of 2022

The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the eighth annual Safest Cities report.

See if your city made the full list.

In our 2022 State of Safety survey, half the Michigan residents surveyed said they felt safe in their state. How residents feel probably depends on where they live in the state. Michigan has a higher-than-average violent crime rate overall, but its safest cities have a low violent crime rate. Michigan’s property crime falls far below the national average.

• Violent crime rates
• Property crime rates
• Interesting findings
• The Safest Cities
• Methodology
• How to make a safe home anywhere
• How other cities compare
• How other states compare

Out of the Michiganians we surveyed, 63% think crime is increasing. That’s partially true. Overall, violent crime rose slightly year over year—from 4.4 instances per 1,000 residents to 4.8. Property crime, on the other hand, decreased from 15.9 to 13.6.

All 50 of Michigan’s safest cities reported fewer than two violent crimes per 1,000 people, which is less than half the statewide violent crime rate. Even more impressive, the top 20 cities reported zero murders, and the top 10 cities reported zero robberies.

Almost half (46%) of the Michigan respondents to our State of Safety survey are highly concerned about safety every day. This is near the national average of 47%.

While you might guess that Michigan residents are most concerned about violent crime, we found that more (40%) were worried about package theft. This worry is surprising since just 15% of Michigan respondents told us they experienced package theft in the past year—the lowest in the East North Central region.

We asked Michigan residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Michigan residents are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.

View the complete 2022 State of Safety report.

Michigan has a higher violent crime rate than the national average and only half of its residents feel safe in The Great Lake State. The increase in experiences with violent crime and gun violence might account for the higher daily level of high concern.

• 50% of residents report feeling safe in their state compared to 55% of Americans.
• 10% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with violent crime in the last year—this is the same as the national average.
• Murder remains the least-common violent crime in The Great Lake State.
• Michigan is one of the only states where reports of rape have declined among the safest cities year over year.
• 22% of survey participants use some form of personal protection—much lower than the national average of 34%.
• 47% say their personal safety has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 44% of Americans.

Overall, gun safety is a big concern for The Great Lake State. This may be due to the increase in mass shootings.

• 51% of those surveyed named gun violence their top safety concern (US 53%).
• 39% are most worried about a gun violence incident happening to them (US 38%).
• The number of mass shootings in a year increased from 21 to 26.

Despite its higher rate of violent crimes, Michigan has a surprisingly low property crime rate, especially compared to the rest of the US. The overall property crime rate dropped since last year.

• 13% of Michiganders reported experiences with property crime in the 12 months prior to our survey.
• The property crime rate declined 14% year over year across the state, and the number of property crime incidents reported by the safest cities collectively fell by nearly 1,000 incidents this year.
• 15% of participants reported experiencing package theft in the last 12 months, putting Michigan well below the US average of 20%.
• 51% of survey participants use some form of property protection—lower than most Americans (60%).
• The top form of property protection among Michigan residents this year is firearms with 24% using them (26% US).
• 30% of Michiganians say the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the security of their property, compared to 29% nationally.

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.

• Thetford Township is number 1 for the second consecutive year—but it shares the honor with Iron Mountain this year.
• Both of the top 2 cities reported 0 violent crimes and 0 property crime incidents.
• The top 20 cites reported 0 murders.
• The top 10 cities reported 0 robberies.
• 56% (28) of the safest cites reported single-digit violent crime incidents.
• There were 5 murders among the 50 safest cities. This number is impressively low.
• All 50 cities reported fewer than 6 property crimes per 1,000 people.

VC=Violent crime
PC=Property crime

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

Whether your city made our list or not, we encourage everyone to be proactive about home security. One of the best ways to stop a burglary before it happens is to add a home security system.

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We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population as calculated using FBI data. To request a report of the remaining cities in your state, sign up for our email newsletter (we make it easy in a quick form below!) or email info@safewise.com with the subject line: Safest Cities Full Report.

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 2020.

Click on the state image or dropdown menu below to check out the safest cities for each state.

• Best Home Security Systems
• Best Home Security Cameras
• Best Video Doorbell Cameras
• Burglary Stats & Facts
• The Most Burglarized City in Every State

FBI: Crime Data Explorer, Accessed March 8, 2022.

US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed January 24, 2022.

Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 24, 2022.

SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 8, 2022.

Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 24, 2022.

Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 8, 2022.

Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 8, 2022.

For definitions and more on data sources, see our methodology page.