Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Watertown, SD Crime Grade
How Watertown 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
6/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
South Dakota
3/10
vs. South Dakota cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Watertown, SD was 181.4 per 100,000 residents (43 incidents over a population of 23,699). That puts Watertown 44% below the U.S. rate of 325.3 and 45% below the South Dakota statewide rate of 327.7.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Watertown (red), South Dakota (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Watertown 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 | 223.4(50) | 219.0(50) | 288.9(67) | 303.2(71) | 181.4(43) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 76.0(17) | 92.0(21) | 56.1(13) | 64.1(15) | 59.1(14) |
| Robbery | 4.5(1) | 4.4(1) | 8.6(2) | 0.0(0) | 4.2(1) |
| Aggravated assault | 143.0(32) | 122.6(28) | 224.2(52) | 239.1(56) | 118.1(28) |
| Property crime | 1344.8(301) | 1559.2(356) | 1681.5(390) | 1029.2(241) | 734.2(174) |
| Burglary | 156.4(35) | 297.8(68) | 133.7(31) | 68.3(16) | 54.9(13) |
| Larceny | 1085.6(243) | 1125.6(257) | 1444.4(335) | 888.2(208) | 616.1(146) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 102.8(23) | 135.8(31) | 99.2(23) | 68.3(16) | 63.3(15) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- Metric: Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- National decile: Watertown's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- State decile: Same calculation restricted to South Dakota cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- Letter grade: 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- Refresh: Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- Limits: The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
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