On October 16th, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) released its annual Legislative Report highlighting 2024 crime data. The following is a short summary of the report focusing on violent crime data – Murder, Aggravated Assault, Robbery, and Rape.
Statewide
Violent crime levels statewide remained steady
The number of violent crimes dropped slightly from 15,011 in 2023 to 14,991 in 2024.
Given the slight population increase (48,830) the overall violent crime rate dropped 0.7% from 261/100,000 in 2023 to 259/100,000 in 2024. (National VC rate estimated at 359/100,000)
Seven-county metro
Violent crime in the seven-county metro area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington) far outpaced the outstate counties. (Rates determined using population estimates found here).
The seven-county metro area accounted for approximately 55% of the state’s population but also accounted for 74% of the state’s violent crime in 2024.
In 2024 the seven-county metro area had a violent crime rate of 347/100,000, up slightly from 346/100,000 in 2023. Outstate counties had much lower rate, coming in at 152/100,000 in 2024, down from 158/100,000 in 2023.
The national violent crime rate was estimated to be 359/100,000, putting our metro area slightly below the national average. Memphis, by comparison, had a violent crime rate of nearly 2,501/100,000 in 2024 according to some estimates.
It’s a bit misleading to lump Anoka (141/100,000), Carver (77/100,000), Dakota (147/100,000), Scott (91/100,000), and Washington (101/100,000) counties in with Hennepin and Ramsey, as these suburban counties had violent crime rates far below the state average.
Hennepin and Ramsey
Violent crime in Minnesota was concentrated in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
Hennepin County’s violent crime rate was 538/100,000 in 2024 while Ramsey County’s violent crime rate was 455/100,000. Both these county averages far exceed the national average but are lower than many metropolitan areas.
Despite accounting for just 31% of the state’s population, Hennepin and Ramsey Counties accounted for 62% of the state’s violent crimes.
Despite accounting for just 22% of the state’s population, Hennepin County alone accounted for 46% of the state’s violent crime.
Demographics
According to World Population Review, Minnesota’s racial demographics are broken down as follows:
Graph Source: World Population Review
The racial demographics of victims and offenders for the four primary violent crimes were broken down as follows:
Graph Source: Minnesota BCA 2024 Legislative Report
