By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
jnewell@mihomepaper.com
ORION TWP. — Orion Township is ranked as the 19th safest community in Michigan for 2025, according to a new report out from SafeWise, an independent security organization that researches security issues and solutions.
By comparison, other area communities ranked in the top 20 safest cities were Brandon Township at 4th, Oakland Township at 8th, the city of Rochester at 10th and Oxford Township at 14th. Orion Township, at more than 39,000 residents, has a larger population than those communities, none of which have a population greater than 25,000 residents, according to the 2020 census.
“Orion Township is proud once again to be recognized as the safest community of our size in the entire state of Michigan,” said Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett. “Public safety is a top priority for our residents, and this recognition reflects the strong partnerships we’ve built between the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, local leadership and engaged community members. A safe community is not only vital to quality of life – it’s one of the main reasons families and businesses choose to call Orion home.”
Rankings are based on both violent (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) numbers in each city. Arson is excluded from the FBI’s property crime rates and was excluded from the SafeWise report.
“We use the most up-to-date FBI crime data as the backbone of our reports. This means we rely on information that cities across the country report through the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program,” according to the SafeWise rankings report.
For the 2025 reporting year, the most recent FBI data was released in October 2024 and accounts for crimes reported in the calendar year 2023.
According to the SafeWise report, the property crime rate in Orion Township was up from 4.8 per 1,000 residents in 2024 to 5.0 in 2025, while the violent crime rate stayed the same at 0.5 from 2024 to 2025.