In this article we take a look at the 30 most dangerous cities in the US.
Whether you are planning to travel around the United States or just moving from one city to another, the safety level of cities is probably one of the first criteria to consider. U.S might be one of the safest countries but some cities are just more dangerous than others. If you are living alone or raising a family in the city, the one thing we look for in a potential city of residence is safety and freedom from such dangers.
Potential dangers can be of all sorts. For cities, it could mean theft cases, vandalization of property to something gravely serious like murder.
Also, there are hate crimes that can be inflicted against a certain section of communities.
Generally speaking, violent crimes are the gravest potential threat that makes a city dangerous.
We might enjoy crime shows on TV, but it is not something we can get thrilled about in real life.
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Overall 2020 has been a much more peaceful year in terms of crimes than others. The FBI’s Preliminary Uniform Crime Report has clearly indicated a downward trend in the amount of violent crimes. It was observed that three out of four regions experienced lower crime rates. It’s just the south that showed an increase of 2.5%. The number of rape offences have fallen by 17.8% in comparison to the first half of 2019.
It is however clear that some regions or cities are more prone to criminal activities than their counterparts. If we go by statistics, the rate of instances of crime were much lesser in smaller cities (population under 10,000) than bigger cities.
All these dynamics have been covered in our ranking methodology. We have already elaborated the crime scenario for 2020 in our previous article Top 15 U.S. Cities With Highest Number of Murders in 2020, where we have discussed the number of murders per day per 100,000 people. Since, some cities (like Detroit) do not report crime data in real time, but only in a few months’ gap, we have based our rankings of the 30 most dangerous cities in the US on the FBI Uniform Crime Report data for 2019. This gives us a more holistic result without excluding any of the major cities. In this article we ranked cities based on the rate of violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. Only cities that have a population of 250,000 or more is included in this article. Violent crimes would include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults.
However, crimes rates have shown a positive turn in 2020. I historic figures are to be considered, the rate of violent crimes have actually increased by 0.3% in the last five years. This might seem like a small figure but might be a significant compromise in the city’s safety levels. It makes it even more important to shift focus on the most dangerous cities in the US. Here’s the full list –
30. Tallahassee
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 527.5
Tallahassee area including Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, and Wakulla Counties has quite the reputation when it comes to criminal activities. Leon County alone reported 3,845 incidents per 100,000 people in 2019.
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29. Modesto
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 529.1
Crime rates in the area are double of the national average. The extremely high crime rate makes it a fairly dangerous city to be in.
28. Tulsa
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 529.6
Falling in the mid-size city category, which has a higher crime rate overall – Tulsa is quite notorious for automobile thefts, burglaries and even rapes especially on the southern side of the city.
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27. Greensboro-High Point
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 530.2
While Greensboro as murder rates as high as 12.6% per 100,000, High Point takes it a notch higher at 16.09%. The region is unarguably quite unsafe.
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26. Beaumont-Port Arthur
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 541.2
Beaumont reported over 1,241 instances of violent crime in 2019 while Port Arthur remained at 344. Rates have been significantly higher than national average.
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25. New Orleans-Metairie
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 551.5
The city’s tourist areas are especially notorious for petty crimes. The city also reported 4,516 serious violent crimes. If you are traveling in the city, best exercise caution.
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24. Merced
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 553.2
Burglaries are quite frequent especially in tourist places. Shady neighborhoods are best avoided in the city.
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23. Baton Rouge
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 554.0
Baton Rouge sees 35.1 homicide cases for every 100,000 of the population. This is dangerously high.
As vibrant the city is, it has its sketchy pockets that are best avoided or visited with caution. Violent crimes and property crimes are considerably high.
21. Shreveport-Bossier City
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 563.2
1,462 instances of violent crimes were recorded in Shreveport in 2019, and 546 were reported in Bossier City.
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20. Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 570.5
Apart from the crazy traffic, Nashville is also quite crazy in terms of crime rates. A significant 7,376 violent crimes were committed in the city itself.
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19. Kalamazoo-Portage
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 572.5
One of the most dangerous cities in Michigan, Kalamazoo-Portage significant numbers of violent crimes, majorly aggravated assaults. Certain areas in the city are best avoided.
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18. Milwaukee-Waukesha
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 577.9
Milwaukee area has high poverty and crime rates. 7,874 violent crimes were recorded in the city alone, out of which majority have been assault cases.
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17. Flint
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 579.7
The city struggles with significant poverty levels and crime rates. Along with violent crimes the city also has high property crime rates.
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16. Columbia
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 583.4
Property crimes like burglary and larceny are extremely high in Columbia. The city crime rate that is higher than 82% of other cities.
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15. Amarillo
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 595.4
The steak challenges might be a party but the crime rates are certainly not! The significantly high violent crime rate and even higher property crime rates, qualifies the city as one of the most dangerous cities in U.S.
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14. Bakersfield
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 621.1
A lot of neighborhoods in the city are quite unsafe. The city has reported as high as 16,000 cases of property crimes also.
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13. Springfield
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 632.7
The city had 9 cases of homicide last year. The city’s gun violence has increased two folds since 2014.
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12. Rockford
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 634.5
There were 23 cases of murder in 2018 in the city. The city’s violent crime has been on an increasing trend in the last five years.
11. Gainesville
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000 – 692.1
92% of US cities are safer than Gainesville. The rate of violent crimes is twice that of the national average.
10. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 698.7
Baltimore has the highest murder rate per capita in the country. There are a 56 homicides per 100,000 people
9. Corpus Christi
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 736.9
Crime is rampant in Corpus Christi city and violent crimes are as high as 2,616.
8. Wichita
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 781.2
Wichita is the most dangerous city in Kansas. The city is infamous for being generally unsafe and most neighborhoods are vulnerable.
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7. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 782.3
The crime rate is almost 4 times of the national average, and there has been almost no decrease in high violent crime rates over the years.
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6. Stockton
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 788.5
Stockton is notorious for all kinds of violent crimes, the chronic poverty rates seems to aggravate the city’s crime scene.
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5. Lubbock
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 838.5
There have been 16 homicide cases in the city in 2019 alone. The rising poverty in the city might have a contribution in the elevated crime rates.
A staggering 13,040 cases of violent crimes were recorded in Detroit in 2019.
3. Albuquerque
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 1,043.4
Murders, Automobile Thefts, burglaries … you name it! Albuquerque is infamous for its sky touching crime rates.
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2. Memphis
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 1,120.5
Violent crimes occur three times more in Memphis than any other average city. 12,367 violent crimes were witnessed in 2019, while a jaw dropping 39,860 cases of property crimes were also recorded.
1. Anchorage
Rate of violent crimes per 100,000- 1,194.6
Anchorage is known for its violent criminal activities as well as drugs related crimes. 34 cases of murder were recorded in 2019. The high crime index makes it the most dangerous city in U.S.
