Every city has safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhhods. We believe you should know which neighborhoods in Des Moines are the safest before you move.
Every year, more than 30 million Americans move. Sometimes, its for a job, other times its to escape the big city. But no matter where you move, you want a neighborhood thats family friendly, clean, and most importantly, safe.
Weve analyzed the FBI crime reports data on violent and property crimes for every single neighborhood in Des Moines. Then, we calculated your chances of being the victim of a crime in each one.
What Des Moines neighborhoods can you leave your doors unlocked at night? Heres the list.
Which neighborhood is the safest in Des Moines in 2024? That would be Greenwood. Thats according to the most recent FBI crime data, which takes into account everything from thefts and robberies to assaults and murders.
If you dont see a neighborhood youre looking for in our top , scroll down to the bottom, where we have all Des Moines neighborhoods listed in order from safest to most dangerous.
For more Iowa reading, check out:
- Safest Cities To Live In America
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- Best neighborhoods to live in Des Moines.
Table Of Contents: Top 10 | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Safest Neighborhoods To Live In Des Moines For 2024
/10
Population: 1,101
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 199
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,259
More on Greenwood: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 5,358
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 282
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,561
More on Downtown Des Moines: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 1,209
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 282
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,561
More on Salisbury Oaks: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 441
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 282
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,561
More on Linden Heights: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 5,951
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 279
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,985
More on Lower Beaver: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 9,066
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 412
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,485
More on Bloomfield-Allen: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 2,817
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 220
Property Crime Per 100k: 2,319
More on Waterbury: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 641
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 341
Property Crime Per 100k: 1,891
More on Ingersoll Park: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 922
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 415
Property Crime Per 100k: 2,297
More on Waveland Woods: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 2,179
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 235
Property Crime Per 100k: 2,973
More on Woodland Heights: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Safest Des Moines Hoods In 2024
You can ask people which neighborhoods are the safest, or you can look at the unbiased raw data. We choose data.
Instead of relying on speculation and opinion, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the numbers from the FBI’s most recent crime report for every neighborhood in Des Moines.
To be more specific, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. We then ran an analysis to calculate each neighborhood’s property and violent crimes per capita. We used the following criteria:
- Total Crimes Per Capita
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 50 in each category, where 1 was the safest.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a safe neighborhood index.
Finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest safest neighborhood index the “Safest City Neighborhood In Des Moines.” We’re lookin’ at you, Greenwood.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the safest neighborhoods in Des Moines.
Skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city, from safest to most expensive.
Summary: The Safest Places In Des Moines
Looking at the data, you can tell that Greenwood is as safe as they come, according to science and data.
The safest neighborhoods in Des Moines are Greenwood, Downtown Des Moines, Salisbury Oaks, Linden Heights, Lower Beaver, Bloomfield-Allen, Waterbury, Ingersoll Park, Waveland Woods, and Woodland Heights.
But as most Iowa residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So make sure you’re informed ahead of time.
The most dangerous neighborhoods in Des Moines are Laurel Hill, Capitol East, Jordan Park, McKinley School, and Drake Park.
We ranked the neighborhoods from safest to most dangerous in the chart below.
For more Iowa reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Iowa
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- Most Dangerous Cities In Iowa
- Richest Cities In Iowa
- Safest Places In Iowa
- Worst Places To Live In Iowa
