Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Rapid City, SD Crime Grade
How Rapid City grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of South Dakota — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
10/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
South Dakota
10/10
vs. South Dakota cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Rapid City, SD was 767.4 per 100,000 residents (623 incidents over a population of 81,185). That puts Rapid City Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 134% above the South Dakota statewide rate of 327.7.
That ranks Rapid City #3,577 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 5% of them, and #13 of 13 in South Dakota. Violent crime is up 7% year over year and up 15% over the last five years.
Rapid City, SD crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (10/10)
- South Dakota Grade
- F (10/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 767.4 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,577 of 3,771
- SD rank
- #13 of 13
- Safer than
- 5% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 7%
- 5-year change
- up 15%
- Population
- 81,185
- Reporting agency
- Rapid City Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Rapid City Police Department (FBI ORI SD0510100) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Rapid City, SD
Also known as
- Hay Camp
History
Named on February 25, 1876, by John R. Brennan. The name was taken from Rapid Creek that ran through the location. (SD-T83/p. 116) Incorporated in 1883.
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Rapid City (red), South Dakota (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Rapid City vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 669.5(535) | 682.8(533) | 742.1(600) | 718.9(582) | 767.4(623) |
| Murder | 12.5(10) | 6.4(5) | 4.9(4) | 6.2(5) | 9.9(8) |
| Rape | 130.1(104) | 124.3(97) | 132.3(107) | 135.9(110) | 140.4(114) |
| Robbery | 77.6(62) | 83.3(65) | 117.5(95) | 103.8(84) | 81.3(66) |
| Aggravated assault | 449.3(359) | 468.9(366) | 487.3(394) | 473.1(383) | 535.8(435) |
| Property crime | 3222.4(2,575) | 3589.4(2,802) | 3904.8(3,157) | 3795.8(3,073) | 3654.6(2,967) |
| Burglary | 583.2(466) | 608.5(475) | 510.8(413) | 427.4(346) | 372.0(302) |
| Larceny | 2087.3(1,668) | 2460.8(1,921) | 2829.9(2,288) | 2986.8(2,418) | 2959.9(2,403) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 545.6(436) | 516.2(403) | 556.6(450) | 378.0(306) | 304.2(247) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Rapid City, SD Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Rapid City Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Rapid City calculated?
- Rapid City's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the South Dakota state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to South Dakota cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Rapid City Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in South Dakota
Comparable South Dakota cities by population.
Compare Rapid City to other places
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