Crime in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls's crime rate

There were 6,550 crimes reported in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2019, the most recent year crime data is available. Adjusted for population, the city’s annual crime rate is 3,529 incidents for every 100,000 people.

How does Sioux Falls compare?

Sioux Falls has a higher overall crime rate than the vast majority of U.S. cities. For comparison, the national total crime rate is 2,489 incidents for every 100,000 people.

Sioux Falls's overall crime rate is 63% higher than the overall crime rate in South Dakota. Statewide, there were 19,197 crimes reported in 2019, or 2,170 for every 100,000 people.

What types of crimes are being committed?

The FBI's crime rate includes seven crime categories: three property crimes -- larceny, burglary, and motor vehicle theft, and four violent crimes -- aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and murder.

Property crime

The vast majority of crimes in America are property crimes, accounting for 85% of total crimes in 2019. In Sioux Falls, property crimes account for about 86% of all offenses.

Property crime is more prevalent in Sioux Falls than it is nationwide. There were 5,653 property crimes in Sioux Falls in 2019, or 3,045 for every 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, the national property crime rate is 2,110 incidents per 100,000 people.

Larceny

Larceny is by far the most common type of property crime in the U.S. It is also the most commonly committed type of property crime in Sioux Falls. There were 4,300 larcenies reported in Sioux Falls in 2019, or 2,317 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the larceny rate is 1,550 per 100,000.

Burglary

There were 695 break-ins reported in Sioux Falls in 2019, or 374 for every 100,000 residents. For reference, there were 341 reported burglaries for every 100,000 people nationwide in 2019.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Across the United States, the annual motor vehicle theft rate is 220 for every 100,000 people. In Sioux Falls, meanwhile, there were 658 motor vehicle thefts in 2019, or 355 for every 100,000 people.

Violent crime

Violent crime accounts for a relatively small share of crimes nationwide. These offenses, which are generally more egregious than property crimes, account for about 15% of the nearly 8.2 million offenses reported across the U.S. in 2019. In Sioux Falls, however, violent offenses account for a smaller 14% share of all reported crime.

At 483 incidents for every 100,000 people, the violent crime rate in Sioux Falls is above the national violent crime rate of 379 offenses per 100,000 people. Law enforcement in Sioux Falls reported a total of 897 violent crimes in 2019.

Aggravated Assault

Aggravated assault is by far the most common type of violent crime reported in the U.S. It is also the most commonly reported violent offense in Sioux Falls. There were 709 aggravated assaults reported in Sioux Falls in 2019, or 382 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the rate is far lower, standing at 250 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people.

Robbery

Robbery is the second most common type of violent crime in America. There were 68 robberies reported in Sioux Falls in 2019, a rate of 37 robberies for every 100,000 residents. For comparison, the national robbery rate was 82 per 100,000 in 2019.

Rape

There were 116 rapes reported in Sioux Falls in 2019, or 63 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, there were 139,815 rapes in 2019, a rate of 43 per 100,000 people.

Murder

There were 4 homicides committed in the city in 2019. Adjusted for population, the murder rate in Sioux Falls is 2.2 murders for every 100,000 people, considerably lower than the national murder rate of 5 per 100,000 people.

Sioux Falls compared to other cities in South Dakota

Sioux Falls has the third highest crime rate of all comparable cities in South Dakota. To be considered comparable, a city must have a complete 2019 FBI crime report and population of 5,000 or more.

Here are all comparable cities ranked by total crime rate. Click any bar or city name to see more about crime in that city.

Click here to see a list of all city crime pages.

Click here to see a list of all state crime pages.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.