Brandon ranks safest S.D. city for fourth year

Brandon remains the safest city in South Dakota, according to the latest SafeWise Report.

Released March 1, the 2019 SafeWise Report ranks Brandon at the top of its list of the 10 safest cities in South Dakota for the fourth consecutive year.

The report looks at violent and property crime data to identify the cities with the lowest crime per capita.  

Each city on the 2019 list saw fewer than four violent crimes per 1,000 people, and 80 percent kept property crime below both state and national rates. 

In addition to Brandon, four cities on SafeWise’s annual top 10 list were back from 2018. Madison, which ranked fifth last year, jumped to No. 2 this year, followed by Brookings, which rose from eighth to No. 3. Tea bumped up five spots to No. 5, and Sturgis moved up three to No. 6. 

Summerset, North Sioux City, Lead, Lennox and Sisseton dropped from the list, and were replaced by Belle Fourche (No. 4), Box Elder (No. 7), Aberdeen (No. 8), Spearfish (No. 9) and Watertown (No. 10).

Brandon is the only city on the 2019 list that reported zero violent crimes. 

SafeWise calculated that South Dakota saw 4.13 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, compared to 4.49 nationally, and property crime in South Dakota was 26.34 to the country’s overall rate of 27.11.

Data was drawn from the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report in 2017.

 

The 10 Safest Cities in South Dakota

1. Brandon

Population: 10,090

Violent crimes per 1,000: 0

Property crimes per 1,000: 2.58

2. Madison

Population: 7,284

Violent crimes per 1,000: 1.45

Property crimes per 1,000: 11.47

3. Brookings

Population: 24,198

Violent crimes per 1,000: 1.49

Property crimes per 1,000: 13.02

4. Belle Fourche

Population: 5,662

Violent crimes per 1,000: 1.59

Property crimes per 1,000: 16.60

5. Tea

Population: 5,261

Violent crimes per 1,000: 1.71

Property crimes per 1,000: 13.69

6. Sturgis

Population: 6,868

Violent crimes per 1,000: 2.62

Property crimes per 1,000: 28.10

7. Box Elder

Population: 9,623

Violent crimes per 1,000: 3.33

Property crimes per 1,000: 20.16

8. Aberdeen 

Population: 28,800

Violent crimes per 1,000: 3.44

Property crimes per 1,000: 23.65

9. Spearfish

Population: 11,697

Violent crimes per 1,000: 3.51

roperty crimes per 1,000: 32.40

10. Watertown

Population: 22,283

Violent crimes per 1,000: 3.64

Property crimes per 1,000: 19.93

 

Source: The SafeWise Report, 2019