Grand Forks, North Dakota is certainly a college town, but is Grand Forks a safe town?  

According to Crime Grade is rated an overall B, but as it states as fact, a crime occurs on average every 7 hours and 4 minutes in Grand Forks and your home is 300% more likely to be robbed with no home security system. 

 According to Neighborhood Scout, there is a 1 in 38 chance of being victim to either a violent or property crime in Grand Forks, and relative to North Dakota, the crime rate in Grand Forks is 90% higher than the other cities and towns in the state.  

Grand Forks, with a whopping 58,000 residents, experiences over 2,700 instances of all combined crimes ranking it sixth in terms of most dangerous cities in North Dakota according to Only In Your State. Based on recent FBI data, Grand Forks is not one of the safest communities in America.  

Does all this crime stem from Grand Forks being a college town? Or is it the more conservative views of the townies? Although many residents do not have much to comment on about the crime rates, property crime in Grand Forks is higher than the U.S. average and violent crimes in Grand Forks are not as apparent as it is scaled lower than the U.S. average.  

The crime rates and statistics vary in places around town with the safest parts of town being the University’s campus and southeast region, and the most dangerous places are the west near the Verge and Alerus Center, and downtown Grand Forks. The most dangerous city in North Dakota is Williston, so living in Grand Forks is not the worst place to be because there certainly are some quality aspects to the town.

Kelsie Hildebrand is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].