Northfield is 8th Safest Large Minnesota City: Study

Most people know Northfield as one of the most entertaining college towns in the region, but did you know it also happens to be one of the safest towns, too? Northfield was ranked in the top ten safest large cities in Minnesota, which includes cities in the state with a population over 20,000.

Value Penguin, a personal finance website, slotted Northfield at No. 8 in 2016, in front of Ramsey (No. 9) and Eden Prairie (No. 10):

1. Winona
2. Orono
3. Chaska
4. Farmington
5. Rosemount
6. Shoreview
7. Lakeville
8. Northfield
9. Ramsey
10. Eden Prairie

According to the United States Census Bureau, Northfield has an estimated population of 20,581.

To come up with its rankings, ValuePenguin used data pulled from 2014 FBI statistics, the most recent stats available:

"We standardized the data to reflect violent and property crimes per 100,000, to account for population. Then, we aggregated a “crime score” by weighting violent crime at 80% and property crime at 20%. … Then we adjusted the crime score for population size, giving more slack to larger cities. Finally, we ranked the cities based on their crime scores."

Northfield's crime score is 696. Overall, Northfield rated 24th in safety among the 125 communities with populations of at least 5,000 that were studied by the website.

How did Northfield compare to neighboring communities? Here's a look at their overall rankings:

• Farmington: 8th
• Rosemount: 9th
• Faribault: 99th
• Minneapolis: 125th

Image via mnpirategirl, Flickr, used under Creative Commons