Bennett County Crime & Safety

Bennett County has a total crime rate of 1680.9 per 100,000 residents, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data. This includes both violent crimes (324.4 per 100K) and property crimes (1356.5 per 100K).

Bennett County has a safety score of 30/100, rated "High Crime". A higher safety score indicates lower crime rates relative to other counties nationwide. It ranks #57 out of 66 counties in South Dakota for safety (1 = safest).

With a safety score of 97.3, Bennett County ranks below the South Dakota average of 98.8. Its crime rate of 1680.9 is also higher than the state’s typical 788.1 incidents per 100K.

The county reports 324.4 violent crimes and 1356.5 property crimes per 100K residents. While property crime is the larger share, both rates are below the national averages.

Crime data for Bennett County comes from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Local law enforcement agencies submit data on violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) to the FBI. Rates are calculated per 100,000 residents to allow fair comparison between counties of different sizes. The safety score (0-100) is derived from these rates, with higher scores indicating safer counties.

Bennett County has a safety score of 30/100, which is below the South Dakota average of 73/100. Many counties with above-average crime rates invest in community policing, crime prevention programs, neighborhood watch initiatives, and social services aimed at reducing crime over time.