Safest Districts in Hesse

For families and anyone moving with children, how safe an area feels is often as important as the rent. This page ranks the safest places to live in Hesse (Hessen) by recorded crime (the Häufigkeitszahl, or offences registered per 100,000 residents) across all 26 districts, using the 2025 police statistics.

The lowest recorded-crime district is Odenwaldkreis at 2,711 per 100,000, well under half the rate of the busiest urban districts. One thing to keep in mind throughout: this counts offences the police record, not convictions, and it climbs wherever offenders and victims are not local: city centres, big stations, motorways and airports all inflate it. Read it as recorded activity in an area, not how dangerous a place is for the people who live there.

The 10 lowest recorded-crime districts in Hesse

#	District	Offences / 100k	vs state median
1	Odenwaldkreis	2,711	35% below state median
2	Bergstraße	2,766	34% below state median
3	Darmstadt-Dieburg	2,901	30% below state median
4	Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis	3,036	27% below state median
5	Waldeck-Frankenberg	3,392	19% below state median
6	Kassel district	3,473	17% below state median
7	Schwalm-Eder-Kreis	3,508	16% below state median
8	Hochtaunuskreis	3,686	11% below state median
9	Hersfeld-Rotenburg	3,783	9% below state median
10	Lahn-Dill-Kreis	3,847	8% below state median

Ranked on the Häufigkeitszahl (recorded offences per 100,000 residents) from the Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2025. Read it as recorded activity, not a danger score.

Odenwaldkreis records the fewest offences of any Hesse district at 2,711 per 100,000, followed by Bergstraße (2,766) and Darmstadt-Dieburg (2,901). All three are well below the Hesse midpoint of 4,162 per 100,000.

What the crime data shows across Hesse

Recorded offences range from 2,711 per 100,000 in Odenwaldkreis to 15,026 in Frankfurt, with a Hesse midpoint around 4,162; 13 of the 26 districts sit below that midpoint. The higher figures are largely a city effect: Frankfurt draws commuters, visitors and transit that all add to the count without being resident risk, so the gap overstates how different daily life feels.

How to read these numbers

A recorded-crime rate is a useful first filter, not a verdict. It does not separate petty from serious offences, it reflects how much gets reported and registered, and it is pushed up by anything that brings non-residents into an area. A rural district with very few offences and a city district with many can still feel similar on a residential street. Use this ranking to shortlist, then check the individual district profiles and local sources before deciding.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the safest district in Hesse?

On recorded crime, Odenwaldkreis has the lowest rate in Hesse at 2,711 offences per 100,000 residents (Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2025).

What is the recorded-crime rate in Odenwaldkreis?

2,711 offences per 100,000 residents in 2025, the lowest of all 26 Hesse districts and about 35% below the state midpoint.

Which Hesse district has the highest recorded crime?

Frankfurt, at 15,026 per 100,000. Urban districts like this record more partly because city centres, stations, motorways and airports draw offences involving non-residents, so the figure overstates the risk to people who actually live there.

Does a low recorded-crime rate mean a district is safe?

Not on its own. The figure counts offences registered by the police, not convictions, and does not weight petty against serious crime. Treat it as recorded activity in an area, not a safety guarantee.

How is crime measured in this ranking?

By the Häufigkeitszahl: total recorded offences per 100,000 residents, from the Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik (BKA) for 2025. It lets districts of different sizes be compared on the same basis.

Are recorded offences the same as convictions?

No. These are offences the police registered, regardless of whether anyone was charged or convicted, so the rate is higher than any conviction-based measure would be.

More for Hesse: All districts in Hesse Cheapest Places to Live in Hesse Best Places for Families in Hesse

Source: Regionaldatenbank Deutschland (regionalstatistik.de), Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder; supplementary data via Destatis GENESIS-Online. Housing, household, education and migration figures from the Zensus 2022. Broadband coverage from the Breitbandatlas (© MIG, BMDV). Recorded crime from the Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik (BKA, 2025). Median full-time gross wages from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2024). Rankings cover the 26 Hesse districts; figures are the latest official values per field. · How we built this ›