North Dakota’s 10 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, just 30% of respondents in North Dakota said that they worry about their safety on a daily basis. This makes North Dakota the third least-concerned state in the country.

The lack of concern lines up with North Dakota’s below-average violent crime rate and only slightly above-average property crime rate. The state's 10 safest cities come in well below statewide, national, and regional crime rate averages.

• 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

North Dakota's violent crime rate went up this year, with 3.3 incidents per 1,000 people compared to last year’s 3.0. The state's property crime rate also saw an increase from 20.0 per 1,000 people to 21.2.

North Dakota had a lower violent crime rate than the West North Central regional average of 3.9 per 1,000 people. The state came in just below the region’s property crime rate of 21.6.

North Dakota comes in below the national average for violent crimes (US 4.0) but above for property crimes (US 19.6).

North Dakotans worried less frequently about their personal safety (30% are concerned daily) and had some of the lowest levels of worry in the US. Only two states, Vermont (18%) and Wyoming (26%), reported lower daily levels of concern. The national average is 47%.

In our latest State of Safety survey, participants reported less experience with property crime, the same level of violent crime, and more gun violence. North Dakota residents' experiences with violent crime and gun violence are close to the US averages; property crime is higher.

The state also has some of the lowest levels of concern about the coronavirus pandemic at 48%—only Wyoming (44%) and Alaska (47%) came in lower. By comparison, 62% of Americans worried about the pandemic on a daily basis.

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

View the complete 2022 State of Safety report.

Almost three-quarters of North Dakota residents feel safe in their home state, which is much more than the national average. The Peace Garden State also has fewer residents concerned about police violence than any other state and ranks second highest for trust in law enforcement.

• 74% of North Dakota residents reported feeling safe in their state compared to 55% of Americans.
• The same percentage of people as last year in North Dakota (9%) told us they had a personal experience with violent crime.
• Murder is less common than other violent crimes in The Peace Garden State, making up 1% of violent crimes. The state's 10 safest cities didn't report any murders.
• Rape makes up 16% of violent crimes in North Dakota, higher than the 10% national average.
• 30% of survey participants report using some form of personal protection like pepper spray—slightly under the US average (34%).
• 32% of North Dakotans say their personal safety has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 44% of Americans.

• 28% of North Dakota residents named gun violence as a top safety concern—nearly half of the 53% US average.
• 9% of survey participants reported experiencing gun violence in the last 12 months, which is 1.5 times higher than last year (6%).
• 21% are most worried about a gun violence incident happening to them (US 38%). Residents are more concerned about general violent crime, property crime, and package theft.
• There were no mass shootings in North Dakota for the past three years.
• 18% of North Dakotans worry about police violence daily—the lowest in the US, which averages 40%.
• 70% of North Dakota residents reported having confidence in law enforcement. This is well above the US average of 56% and is second only to South Dakota (72%).

North Dakotans we surveyed had less personal experience with property crime this year, though the state saw an overall increase in property crime. Residents were much less likely than other states to say the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their property's security.

• Fewer people in North Dakota (23%) reported personal experiences with property crime this year compared to last year (36%).
• Burglary accounts for 20% of all property crimes in The Peace Garden State. Its 10 safest cities average 24%. Both rates are higher than the national average of 16%.
• 19% of respondents reported experiencing package theft, putting North Dakota just below the US average of 20%.
• 61% of residents in North Dakota use some form of property protection—just above the 60% national average.
• The top form of property protection in North Dakota this year was firearms with 34% of survey respondents using them. This is higher than the national average of 26%.
• 19% of respondents say the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the security of their property—much lower than the US average of 29%.

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.

• 80% of North Dakota’s safest cities reported 6 or fewer violent crimes.
• No city in the top 10 reported a murder.
• 90% of the safest cities reported 0 robberies.
• The safest cities reflect the statewide trend of increased property crimes, with over 200 more property crime incidents reported year over year.
• 3 cities—Hazen, New Town, and Stanley—reported 0 burglaries.
• 2 cities—Hazen and Beulah—reported 0 violent crimes.
• 5 of the safest cities reported 0 rapes. 
• The safest city, Hazen, reported 0 murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts. 

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.