Safest Counties in Minnesota: 18 Ranked (2026)
The 18 Minnesota counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Minnesota has 87 counties. Eighteen of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Wright at 43 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Hennepin at 473, is 11 to one. Beside each rate sits what homes there closed at over the last 12 months, from 77,412 closing records Resideline tracked across all 18 counties.
The crime rates here are built from the 4,414,804 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wright | 43 | 332 | $386,145 | $1,900 | $102,130 |
| 2 | Chisago | 56 | 367 | $369,000 | n/a | $100,209 |
| 3 | Sherburne | 59 | 397 | $389,250 | $1,500 | $110,997 |
| 4 | Carver | 66 | 432 | $475,000 | $2,300 | $128,341 |
| 5 | Washington | 76 | 880 | $439,954 | $2,250 | $113,057 |
| 6 | Scott | 86 | 771 | $434,990 | $2,195 | $121,666 |
| 7 | Anoka | 109 | 1,092 | $365,994 | $1,850 | $100,616 |
| 8 | Otter Tail | 112 | 709 | $311,000 | $1,000 | $71,907 |
| 9 | Crow Wing | 131 | 738 | $385,000 | $1,500 | $73,595 |
| 10 | Dakota | 133 | 1,134 | $395,000 | $2,150 | $105,495 |
| 11 | Olmsted | 151 | 1,185 | $350,000 | $1,700 | $94,129 |
| 12 | Rice | 164 | 704 | $330,000 | $1,415 | $83,933 |
| 13 | St. Louis | 196 | 1,951 | $245,000 | $1,550 | $69,200 |
| 14 | Blue Earth | 218 | 1,587 | $292,540 | $1,334 | $72,501 |
| 15 | Stearns | 224 | 1,568 | $303,250 | $1,275 | $76,793 |
| 16 | Clay | 236 | 1,420 | $282,500 | $995 | $81,226 |
| 17 | Ramsey | 374 | 2,678 | $345,000 | $1,500 | $78,562 |
| 18 | Hennepin | 473 | 2,661 | $395,049 | $1,800 | $95,372 |
A closer look at the 12 safest counties
1. Wright County
Police in Wright reported 43 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $386,145, close to the middle of this list. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 332 per 100,000, or 0.3 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,900 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Monticello, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
2. Chisago County
Chisago records 56 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Minnesota counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. At $369,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Property crime is low too, at 367 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.3 times the median comparable US county.
3. Sherburne County
Sherburne's violent crime rate is 59 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Minnesota counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $389,250, sits near the center of the counties measured. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 3.5 times the median household income. Property crime is low too, at 397 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.3 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,500 a month. For prices at street level, see Elk River, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
4. Carver County
Carver records 66 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Minnesota counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $475,000, some 129 percent of the level across the counties measured. That combination, among the safest counties here and among the most expensive, is what most buyers are picturing when they pay a premium for a quiet address. Households there earn a median of $128,341, about 135 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 432 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Chaska, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
5. Washington County
Police in Washington reported 76 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median home closed at $439,954, roughly 120 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Safety and price line up here in the way people expect, which is not true of every county on this list. Median household income is $113,057, roughly 119 percent of the level across this list. Asking rents of $2,250 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. For prices at street level, see Stillwater, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
6. Scott County
Scott records 86 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Minnesota counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $434,990, some 118 percent of the level across the counties measured. A typical home costs 3.6 years of the median household's income, the low end of this list. Asking rents of $2,195 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. Property offenses run at 771 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Resideline publishes a separate page for Shakopee, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
7. Anoka County
Police in Anoka reported 109 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Homes there closed at a median of $365,994, close to the middle of this list. A home costs 3.6 times the median household income there, the lowest quarter of this list. Asking rents of $1,850 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. Property offenses run at 1,092 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. For prices at street level, see Anoka, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
8. Otter Tail County
At 112 violent offenses per 100,000, Otter Tail sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median home closed at $311,000, roughly 85 percent of the middle figure for these counties. The gap between local wages and local prices is wide: 4.3 times household income, in the top quarter of these counties. Its property rate, 709 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Asking rents run about $1,000 a month.
9. Crow Wing County
Police in Crow Wing reported 131 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. At $385,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. A typical home costs 5.2 years of the median household's income, near the top of this list. Property offenses run at 738 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Asking rents run about $1,500 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Brainerd, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
10. Dakota County
At 133 violent offenses per 100,000, Dakota sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $395,000, close to the middle of this list. Asking rents of $2,150 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. Property offenses run at 1,134 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. For prices at street level, see Lakeville, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
11. Olmsted County
Police in Olmsted reported 151 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. At $350,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Its property rate, 1,185 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $1,700 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Rochester, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
12. Rice County
Rice's violent crime rate is 164 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Minnesota counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $330,000, close to the middle of this list. Its property rate is among the lowest here, 704 per 100,000, or 0.6 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,415 a month.
Does safety set the price in Minnesota?
Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 38 percent above the highest-crime third on price. The same safe places also earn 44 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.
That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.
That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.
Where safety and affordability overlap in Minnesota
Four of the 6 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Chisago (56 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.7 times median household income); Sherburne (59 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.5 times median household income); Carver (66 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.7 times median household income); Scott (86 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.6 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
How to read this list
These figures describe whole areas. A quiet town and a rough district an hour apart carry the same number here, so the ranking is a starting point for a search rather than a description of any particular street.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Minnesota housing market; Safest counties in Iowa; Safest counties in Wisconsin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in Minnesota?
Of the 18 Minnesota counties measured here, Wright County records the lowest violent crime rate at 43 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county. Homes there closed at a median of $386,145 over the last 12 months.
Is this every county in Minnesota?
No. It covers 18 of the state's 87 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. No place above 150,000 residents was excluded.
Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?
Less than most people assume. Comparing the safest third of these counties with the highest-crime third, the median closed price is 38 percent higher and household income 44 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.