Most Dangerous Cities by State [Updated August 2023]

The FBI released its 2021 data, estimating crime costs in American cities. The website Moneygeek looked at the FBI data regarding the cost of crime per capita along with the per capita rates of violent crime and property crime to rank cities’ overall safety. Looking at 263 cities with populations above 100,000 residents, one can see how much crime costs in each area to determine the areas with the highest cost, making them the most dangerous.

While major cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York are often cited when talking about violent or unsafe areas, the data shows that some smaller cities are actually having a much higher crime rate per capita. In fact, New York was ranked as the fifth-safest large city, and the eighty-second safest overall, based on a crime cost per capita of $863. This is lower than the average cost of crime per capita, $1,836.

The Top Five Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S.

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is the unsafest city after first earning the ranking based on 2020 data. With a crime cost per capita of $8,457 (almost ten times the per capita cost of New York City) and a total crime cost of $2,499,385, it is easy to see why. The property crime rate was 5,463 per 100,000 residents. This includes crimes like arson, vehicle theft, and burglary. The violent crime rate was 1,484 per 100,000 people.

St. Louis may surprise people as the most dangerous city, but it could be tied to the overall economic downturn facing many cities across the country. St. Louis did not have the same level of economic growth as other similarly-sized cities in the last two decades, meaning that the city may be struggling more than others. A decrease in population resulted from this lack of growth. Together, these two factors could be responsible for the growing crime in the city.

Mobile, Alabama

Another city whose crime rate is most likely influenced by its economic struggles is Mobile. Crime in the city costs $8,014 per capita. The violent crime rate is the highest of all studied cities with 2,787 per 100,00. Even more shocking is the property crime rate. With 11,293 per 100,000, Mobile’s property crime rate is almost double that of the city with the next highest rate.

Birmingham, Alabama

Alabama as a state has one of the poorest and least diverse economies, with low real estate prices and wages. Therefore, it is not surprising to see two of its cities in the top five. Although the violent crime rate (1,683 per 100,000) and property crime rate (3,964 per 100,000) are much lower than in Mobile, Birmingham’s crime cost per capita is very similar at $7,900.

Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is the only city in the top five that is often cited as a dangerous city based on its reputation. Like the rest of the top five, economic struggles and downturns contribute to the crime rate within the city. While the crime cost per capita is $7,230, Baltimore has the lowest per capita violent crime and property crime rates of the top five most dangerous cities, at 1,456 and 2,692 respectively.

Memphis, Tennessee

Citizens of Memphis are extremely fearful of dangerous activity, some are more scared of crime than they have the confidence in going to work in the morning. Memphis is one of the poorest metropolitan cities in America, which contributes to its crime rate. Many citizens live in poverty in its various neighborhoods. Despite this, Memphis is generally safer for tourists as random assaults and accidents on the scale of violent crime are usually not random. Due to plentiful gang activity and robberies, targets are often pre-meditated.

As a result of these factors, the property crime rate in the city is 5,279 per 100,00 and the violent crime rate is 2,431 per 100,000. Both of these rank as some of the worst in the country. The cost of crime per capita is $7,184.