Bloomfield Hills scored the highest safety grade among Birmingham-area communities in a new national ranking, as reported Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Niche, a data and analytics site, gave Bloomfield Hills an A- in its 2026 Crime and Safety grades for metro Detroit, as reported by Patch staff writer Dylan Siwicki. Birmingham, Beverly Hills and Franklin each received a B.

The grades draw on FBI crime data and CDC health statistics, combined with resident survey responses. Every metro Detroit community scored above a C in the report.

Only Lake Angelus, a small Oakland County city, earned the top A+ mark. Clarkston and Grosse Pointe Shores received A grades. Bloomfield Hills shared the A- tier with eight other communities, including Northville, Rochester and South Lyon.

West Bloomfield Township also landed a B. Bloomfield Township and Bingham Farms did not appear in the rankings.

A parallel Patch report on Milwaukee-area communities using the same Niche methodology described the survey portion as roughly 38 percent of the total score. The rest is drawn from federal data on assault, robbery, burglary, drug-related deaths, excessive drinking and firearm-related fatalities.

Birmingham's own crime numbers offer some context. The Birmingham Police Department's 2025 Annual Report, published in April, shows total case reports assigned for investigation declining over the past three years, from 703 in 2023 to 655 in 2024 to 646 in 2025. The department noted reductions in fraud and larceny.

Group A incidents, which include robbery, sexual assaults, larceny, burglary and property damage, rose 7.53 percent compared to 2024, from 385 to 414. Group A arrests also climbed 15 percent, from 60 to 69.

Chief Scott A. Grewe wrote in the April report that the department's accreditation through the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police "is validation that the high standards we hold our staff to are aligned with national best practices."

The Niche rankings do not publish specific crime rates or survey sample sizes for individual communities. Residents seeking the underlying data can find the full report through the Patch article linked above.