Rankings of the most dangerous cities in the US can make a place sound simple: safe or unsafe, good or bad, livable or dangerous. Real life is more complicated than that. Ask locals from Memphis, Detroit, Oakland, Baltimore, or St. Louis, and you may get very different answers.
One person may talk about car thefts, shootings, robberies, break-ins, and neighborhoods they avoid after dark. Another might point to strong communities, historic districts, restaurants, music, schools, parks, and residential areas where daily life feels normal.
Both things can be true.
Citywide crime data matters, but it does not tell the whole story. A city can have a high overall crime rate and still have many neighborhoods where residents, visitors, and businesses feel safe. At the same time, a city’s reputation is not always imaginary. In many places, violent crime, vehicle theft, burglary, robbery, and property crime create real safety concerns.
And this is just one of the many challenges in ranking cities appropriately by how dangerous they are. As a security company, we at the American Security Force look at city crime data not just as rankings, but as practical risk information for residents, property owners, businesses, event organizers, and anyone responsible for protecting people or assets.
If you’ve already read our breakdown of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the US (which we published in 2025 with 2023 data), this updated guide expands the list, revisits the rankings with newer available data, and highlights which cities moved up, moved down, or fell out of the top rankings.
How We Ranked This Year’s Most Dangerous Cities
This list uses the most recent full-year city-level data available from the FBI Crime Data Explorer: 2024 reported crime data. That may sound a year behind, but crime data takes time to collect, submit, review, and publish. Local agencies first report their numbers to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, and the finalized national release usually comes months after the year ends.
Because of that, 2024 is the latest complete annual dataset available for a consistent city-by-city ranking. The FBI also publishes monthly updates, and some cities release their own 2025 crime reports, but those are better used for recent trend context than for a finalized national ranking.
It’s important to note that the list is based on statistical data, not perceptions or individual opinions. As we already discussed, experiences can vary, even for people living in the same city.
This article uses the FBI’s 2024 city-level data, so every city is compared across the same full-year period. The FBI also publishes monthly updates through Crime Data Explorer, but those are better used for recent trend context than for this annual ranking. For a broader global comparison, see our ranking of the world’s most dangerous cities.
The 30 Most Dangerous Cities in the US
1. Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis has faced persistent concerns around violent crime, but property crime also plays a major role in the city’s safety picture.
Recent local data suggests some improvement, with Memphis reporting year-to-date declines across major crime categories through October 2025, including larceny and motor vehicle theft.
Still, the city remains a major example of how violent and property crime can overlap in day-to-day safety concerns.
Previous ranking: #2
Main issue: Violent crime and property crime both contribute.
2. Oakland, California
Oakland’s safety challenges are often tied to vehicle theft, burglary, robbery, and gun violence. Risk varies significantly by neighborhood.
Recent declines in violent crime may be connected to the return of Oakland’s Ceasefire strategy and stronger coordination between police and partner agencies.
Previous ranking: Not in previous top 10
Main issue: Property crime, vehicle theft, robbery, and violent crime concerns.
3. St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is often discussed in connection with violent crime and homicide, which is why questions like “is St. Louis dangerous?” come up so often.
For this ranking, though, the point is broader than homicide alone: the city’s safety concerns include both violent crime and a significant property-crime burden, so its risk profile cannot be reduced to one crime category.
Previous ranking: #1
Main issue: Violent crime remains a major concern, with property crime adding to the overall rate.
4. Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock has long faced public safety concerns tied to both violent crime and property crime. As Arkansas’s capital and largest city, it also carries many of the challenges common to regional urban centers: concentrated neighborhood violence, theft, burglary, and crime around commercial areas.
Its safety picture is not defined by one category alone, which is why it continues to appear in broader discussions of high-crime cities.
Previous ranking: #5
Main issue: Mixed violent and property crime burden.
5. Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma enters the top 10 in this updated ranking, largely because of property crime.
Vehicle theft, burglary, and larceny-related incidents are often the types of crime that shape day-to-day safety concerns.
The city maintains a public crime dashboard that lets residents filter incidents by area, which is important because safety conditions can shift significantly from one neighborhood or police sector to another.
Previous ranking: Not in previous top 10
Main issue: Property crime, especially vehicle theft and burglary.
6. Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo has long stood out in Colorado’s crime-related discussions because its safety challenges look different from those in the state’s larger, faster-growing cities.
The city has faced persistent concerns around violent crime, property crime, and vehicle theft.
Some of its issues are tied to economic hardship, concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, and its role as a regional hub in southern Colorado.
Previous ranking: Not in previous top 10
Main issue: Violent crime and property crime both contribute.
7. Minneapolis, Minnesota
The city has been working through the long-term effects of post-2020 public safety challenges, including violent crime, auto theft, and juvenile-related incidents.
Property crime accounts for much of the city’s total reported crime, but violent crime remains a major part of the safety conversation.
Previous ranking: Not in previous top 10
Main issue: Property crime, auto theft, and violent crime concerns.
8. Portland, Oregon
Property crime is what places Portland high in this list. Especially vehicle theft, burglary, and theft affecting residents, visitors, and businesses.
The city’s safety debate has often focused on downtown disorder, theft, burglary, vehicle crime, homelessness, open-air drug use. These issues place a lot of pressure on businesses and public spaces.
Previous ranking: Not in previous top 10
Main issue: Property crime and public-space safety concerns.
9. Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City has long been associated with violent crime concerns, particularly gun violence and homicide.
Its safety challenges are shaped by a mix of neighborhood-level violence, property crime, and the realities of a large metro area where risk can vary sharply from one district to another.
Previous ranking: #9
Main issue: Violent crime alongside property crime.
10. Detroit, Michigan
The city remains one of the most discussed places when people ask about dangerous US cities. Detroit’s reputation for crime goes back decades and is closely tied to the long economic decline, population loss, and neighborhood disinvestment.
While the city has changed significantly in recent years, violent crime, property crime, and uneven neighborhood conditions continue to shape the safety profile in Detroit.
Previous ranking: #4
Main issue: Violent crime remains serious, while overall crime places Detroit lower than in the old homicide-heavy ranking.
11. Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City’s safety profile differs from that of many high-violence cities on this list. Its concerns are more often tied to theft, vehicle break-ins, and property crime in busy urban areas.
In recent years, local safety debates have also focused on homelessness, drug activity, and downtown disorder. City leaders have responded with more patrols and surveillance in several high-concern areas.
Previous ranking: Not in previous top 10
Main issue: Property crime.
12. Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland’s safety challenges are closely tied to long-term population loss, poverty, vacant properties, and uneven investment across neighborhoods.
The city also has busy, well-trafficked areas around sports venues, restaurants, hospitals, and cultural institutions. The experience of safety can change quickly depending on where someone is.
Violent crime remains a serious concern in parts of Cleveland, while car theft, burglary, and theft also affect residents and businesses.
Previous ranking: #10
Main issue: Violent crime and property crime both contribute.
13. Lakewood, Colorado
Lakewood is not usually discussed like Memphis, Detroit, or Baltimore, but it has faced real property crime pressures in recent years.
Its location in the Denver metro area means it shares many of the same issues seen across the Front Range, including theft, burglary, vehicle break-ins, and auto theft.
For residents and businesses, the main concern is less about a single violent crime reputation and more about repeated property-related incidents.
Main issue: Property crime.
14. Berkeley, California
Along with Oakland, Berkeley is one of the most dangerous cities in California in this ranking, mainly because of property crime rather than a citywide violent-crime reputation.
Its density, university presence, and active commercial areas can make property crime especially visible.
The city’s safety concerns often affect residents, students, visitors, and businesses through theft, burglary, and break-ins rather than citywide violent crime.
Main issue: Property crime.
15. Springfield, Illinois
Springfield’s safety concerns are spread across more than one type of crime.
As the state capital, it has government buildings, residential neighborhoods, retail areas, and nightlife spots that all create different safety conditions.
Some concerns are tied to theft, burglary, and property crime, while violent crime remains a serious issue in parts of the city.
Main issue: Property crime with notable violent crime.
16. Albuquerque, New Mexico
Auto theft has been one of the city’s most visible issues, partly because stolen vehicles often connect to other crimes: break-ins, robberies, and drug-related activity.
The city’s location along major transportation routes also adds to the challenge, making it harder to separate local crime from broader regional movement.
Combined with poverty and neighborhood instability, these issues create a more layered safety picture.
Main issue: High property crime and serious violent crime.
17. Seattle, Washington
As one of the larger cities on this list, Seattle has both a high raw number of reported crimes and a high enough per-capita rate to appear in the ranking.
The city also has a visible public disorder problem in some areas. Behind it lie issues like homelessness, drug activity, and street-level crime.
High repeated property crime rates can make daily life feel less secure, even with fewer violent crimes.
Main issue: Property crime.
18. Baltimore, Maryland
Although the city ranked much higher in our earlier list, Baltimore’s violent-crime challenges aren’t gone. Its reputation is closely tied to violent crime, especially shootings and homicide.
Some neighborhoods face serious safety challenges, while others have active residential areas, universities, hospitals, waterfront districts, and business corridors where daily life looks very different.
For people asking “Is Baltimore safe?” the honest answer depends on where they are, what time it is, and what type of crime.
Previous ranking: #3
Main issue: Violent crime remains a major concern, but the overall-crime method changes its position.
19. Denver, Colorado
Denver’s safety concerns are closely tied to rapid growth, downtown activity, and property crime.
Car theft, vehicle break-ins, burglary, and theft around commercial areas have all shaped the city’s public safety conversation in recent years.
The city also has visible pressure points around nightlife areas, transit corridors, and downtown spaces, where crime, homelessness, and drug activity can overlap.
Main issue: Property crime.
20. Dayton, Ohio
Like many older Midwestern cities, Dayton has dealt with poverty, vacant properties, and uneven investment across neighborhoods.
Dayton faces both violent crime and property crime concerns. Yet recent local reporting has pointed to encouraging trends in violent crime. Still, property crime remains an important part of the overall picture.
Violent crime remains a serious concern in areas with deeper economic strain.
Main issue: Property crime with elevated violent crime.
21. Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville’s safety concerns are shaped by the same things that make the city busy: tourism, nightlife, rapid growth, and heavy traffic around entertainment districts.
Areas connected to Broadway, downtown parking, hotels, short-term rentals, and late-night crowds can see issues like theft, vehicle break-ins, assaults, and disorder.
Outside the tourist core, the city also faces more typical big-city concerns, including gun violence and neighborhood-level property crime.
Main issue: Property crime with violent-crime concerns.
22. Peoria, Illinois
Peoria’s crime picture is shaped by its role as a regional center along the Illinois River.
It has hospitals, schools, industrial areas, older neighborhoods, and downtown entertainment spots that draw people from surrounding communities.
Local safety concerns often include theft, burglary, shootings, and violence concentrated in certain neighborhoods, rather than one citywide pattern that looks the same everywhere.
Main issue: Property crime and violent crime both contribute.
23. Las Cruces, New Mexico
Las Cruces is not usually considered a major high-crime city, which is what makes its placement stand out.
The city is smaller, quieter, and closely tied to New Mexico State University, nearby White Sands, and the El Paso–Juárez border region.
Still, recent events have put public safety under more attention, including a 2025 mass shooting at Young Park during an unauthorized car show. Most day-to-day concerns, however, are still more likely to involve property crime, theft, burglary, and vehicle-related offenses.
Main issue: Property crime.
24. Spokane, Washington
Spokane serves as a major hub for eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Its downtown, retail areas, hospitals, colleges, and transit points draw people from across the region.
That regional role can make certain problems more visible, especially around commercial corridors, parking areas, and neighborhoods close to downtown.
Spokane’s ranking is similar to Tacoma and Seattle in that Washington cities appear here largely because of property-crime pressure.
Main issue: Property crime.
25. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia’s safety picture is shaped by sharp neighborhood differences.
Gun violence has long been concentrated in parts of North and West Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Kensington has become a national symbol of the overlap between drug activity, homelessness, and public disorder.
The good news is that homicides have fallen sharply from their pandemic-era peak, but the city still carries a heavy public safety burden because different parts of Philadelphia face very different crime problems.
Main issue: High total crime volume, property crime, and violent-crime concerns.
26. Houston, Texas
Houston’s safety picture is shaped by its size, sprawl, and wide neighborhood differences.
Residents and businesses often point to vehicle break-ins, robberies, apartment-complex crime, and late-night incidents around bars, gas stations, and parking lots.
Violent crime is part of the picture, but in a city this large, location and daily routine matter a lot.
Main issue: Large total crime burden across a major city.
27. Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a regional hub for Acadiana, so its safety picture is shaped by more than residential crime alone.
The city has busy retail areas, restaurants, nightlife, college activity, and traffic from surrounding communities.
Property crime is a major concern, especially theft, burglary, and vehicle-related incidents. Violent crime is also part of the picture, but risk can look very different depending on the area and time of day.
Main issue: Property crime with notable violent crime.
28. Springfield, Missouri
Springfield’s safety concerns are tied to everyday property crime as much as violent crime.
The city has also dealt with visible challenges around homelessness and substance abuse, which can affect parks, parking lots, and commercial corridors.
Violent crime is part of the picture, but Springfield’s day-to-day safety concerns often feel more connected to repeated lower-level crime and disorder.
Main issue: Property crime and violent crime both contribute.
29. Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham has drawn national attention for its recurring gun violence, connected to neighborhood disputes, nightlife areas, and public gatherings.
Among the cities in this ranking, Birmingham has the highest murder rate per 100,000 residents, making it the ‘murder capital of the US’ (larger cities like Chicago rank higher by raw murder count, but rate-based comparisons put Birmingham ahead).
Main issue: Violent crime remains serious, with property crime adding to the overall rate.
30. Shreveport, Louisiana
Property crime accounts for most of the city’s reported total, while violent crime remains high enough to keep Shreveport among the most crime-affected cities in America by overall rate.
As one of the major cities in northern Louisiana, Shreveport also faces long-term challenges linked to poverty, vacant properties, and uneven investment across different parts of the city.
Main issue: Property crime with elevated violent crime.
Most Dangerous Cities in the US: Quick Comparison
| Rank | City, State | Key Safety Concern |
| 1 | Memphis, TN | High violent and property crime burden |
| 2 | Oakland, CA | Heavy property crime with elevated violent crime |
| 3 | St. Louis, MO | Violent crime concerns and high property crime |
| 4 | Little Rock, AR | High property crime with significant violent crime |
| 5 | Tacoma, WA | Property crime drives much of the overall rate |
| 6 | Pueblo, CO | Property crime and violent crime both contribute |
| 7 | Minneapolis, MN | Mixed violent and property crime burden |
| 8 | Portland, OR | Property crime is the dominant concern |
| 9 | Kansas City, MO | High violent crime alongside property crime |
| 10 | Detroit, MI | Violent crime remains a major safety concern |
| 11 | Salt Lake City, UT | Property crime drives the ranking |
| 12 | Cleveland, OH | Violent and property crime both shape risk |
| 13 | Lakewood, CO | Property crime is the main driver |
| 14 | Berkeley, CA | High property crime rate |
| 15 | Springfield, IL | Property crime with notable violent crime |
| 16 | Albuquerque, NM | High property crime and serious violent crime |
| 17 | Seattle, WA | Large property-crime burden |
| 18 | Baltimore, MD | Violent crime remains a major concern |
| 19 | Denver, CO | Property crime drives the overall rate |
| 20 | Dayton, OH | Property crime with elevated violent crime |
| 21 | Nashville, TN | Large property-crime total with violent crime concerns |
| 22 | Peoria, IL | Property crime and violent crime both contribute |
| 23 | Las Cruces, NM | Property crime is the main driver |
| 24 | Spokane, WA | Property crime dominates the total |
| 25 | Philadelphia, PA | High total crime volume and violent crime concerns |
| 26 | Houston, TX | Large total crime burden across a major city |
| 27 | Lafayette, LA | Property crime with notable violent crime |
| 28 | Springfield, MO | Property crime and violent crime both contribute |
| 29 | Birmingham, AL | Violent crime remains a serious concern |
| 30 | Shreveport, LA | Property crime with elevated violent crime |
Notes on Accuracy and Limits
A few important limits should be kept in mind when reading any list of the most dangerous cities in the US:
- Citywide data does not describe every neighborhood. A city can rank high overall while still having residential, commercial, and entertainment areas where residents and visitors feel safe.
- Reported crime is not the same as all crime. Not every incident is reported to police, and reporting practices can vary by agency. The FBI’s UCR Program collects data submitted voluntarily by law enforcement agencies.
- Crime types should not be treated the same. Violent crime, property crime, homicide, burglary, robbery, and vehicle theft all create different safety concerns.
- Newer trend reports are useful, but limited. The Council on Criminal Justice’s Mid-Year 2025 Update found that 11 of 13 offenses studied were lower in the first half of 2025 than in the first half of 2024. However, its 42-city sample is not necessarily representative of all U.S. jurisdictions.
For the opposite side of the safety picture, compare this list with our recent ranking of the safest cities in the US, which shows how different cities perform when crime rates are lower and long-term stability factors are stronger.
Crime Trends 2025-2026
Recent data suggests the post-pandemic crime spike is continuing to recede across many U.S. cities.
- Most major offenses are down, including homicide, robbery, burglary, carjacking, and motor vehicle theft.
- Violent crime is showing meaningful improvement, with many cities moving closer to or below pre-pandemic levels.
- Property crime is also easing, especially vehicle-related thefts, though some categories remain elevated in certain places.
- Domestic violence remains a concern, as it was one of the few categories that did not follow the broader downward trend.
Overall, the data points to improving urban public safety, but progress remains uneven across cities and crime types.
Sources Behind Our List of the Most Dangerous Cities in America
The ranking in this article is based primarily on:
- FBI Crime Data Explorer – https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program – https://ucr.fbi.gov/
- FBI 2024 Reported Crimes in the Nation Statistics – https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2024-reported-crimes-in-the-nation-statistics
- FBI Monthly Crime and Law Enforcement Data – https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-monthly-crime-and-law-enforcement-data
- Council on Criminal Justice: Crime Trends in U.S. Cities, Mid-Year 2025 Update – https://counciloncj.org/crime-trends-in-u-s-cities-mid-year-2025-update/
- U.S. Census Bureau population data – https://www.census.gov/
