Most Dangerous Cities in America 2025
Which American cities have the highest crime rates? We analyzed FBI data for 334 cities with populations over 100,000 to identify the most dangerous places in the country — and uncover which cities are getting better or worse.
Key Insights
- →#1 most dangerous: Memphis, Tennessee at 2501.3 violent crimes per 100K
- →The top 10 average 1681.6 per 100K — 4.7x the national rate of 359.1
- →Deadliest city by murder rate: Birmingham, Alabama at 58.9 per 100K
- →9 of the top 25 most dangerous cities are in the South
- →Among mega-cities (500K+), Memphis ranks worst at 2501.3 per 100K
The 25 Most Dangerous Cities
Ranked by violent crime rate (murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents). All cities have populations over 100,000.
| # | City | Population | Violent Rate | Murder Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Memphis, Tennessee | 613,207 | 2501.3 | 40.6 |
| 2 | Oakland, California | 435,042 | 1925.3 | 18.6 |
| 3 | Detroit, Michigan | 651,171 | 1781.3 | 31.2 |
| 4 | Little Rock, Arkansas | 204,247 | 1672.0 | 17.6 |
| 5 | Baltimore, Maryland | 566,632 | 1606.2 | 34.8 |
| 6 | Cleveland, Ohio | 362,762 | 1561.1 | 30.1 |
| 7 | Kansas City, Missouri | 511,535 | 1547.1 | 27.6 |
| 8 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 560,416 | 1430.9 | 23.9 |
| 9 | Pueblo, Colorado | 110,805 | 1424.1 | 17.1 |
| 10 | St. Louis, Missouri | 277,294 | 1367.1 | 54.1 |
| 11 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 364,197 | 1361.1 | 53.0 |
| 12 | Lansing, Michigan | 111,965 | 1345.1 | 9.8 |
| 13 | Peoria, Illinois | 109,677 | 1344.9 | 12.8 |
| 14 | Dayton, Ohio | 134,857 | 1339.2 | 29.7 |
| 15 | Birmingham, Alabama | 195,418 | 1246.6 | 58.9 |
| 16 | Shreveport, Louisiana | 175,092 | 1228.5 | 26.8 |
| 17 | Evansville, Indiana | 114,660 | 1206.2 | 10.5 |
| 18 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 558,745 | 1181.8 | 18.4 |
| 19 | Springfield, Missouri | 170,527 | 1178.1 | 5.9 |
| 20 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 423,282 | 1160.2 | 17.9 |
| 21 | Houston, Texas | 2,319,160 | 1148.2 | 13.8 |
| 22 | Stockton, California | 319,069 | 1145.8 | 16.0 |
| 23 | Beaumont, Texas | 111,320 | 1137.3 | 12.6 |
| 24 | Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Tennessee | 698,987 | 1124.1 | 14.6 |
| 25 | Rockford, Illinois | 145,280 | 1080.0 | 13.1 |
Deadliest Cities: Highest Murder Rates
Murder rate is the most reliable crime metric — it's hardest to underreport. These 10 cities have the highest homicide rates in America:
| # | City | Murder Rate | Total Murders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham, Alabama | 58.9 | 115 |
| 2 | St. Louis, Missouri | 54.1 | 150 |
| 3 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 53.0 | 193 |
| 4 | Memphis, Tennessee | 40.6 | 249 |
| 5 | Baltimore, Maryland | 34.8 | 197 |
| 6 | Detroit, Michigan | 31.2 | 203 |
| 7 | Cleveland, Ohio | 30.1 | 109 |
| 8 | Dayton, Ohio | 29.7 | 40 |
| 9 | Kansas City, Missouri | 27.6 | 141 |
| 10 | Shreveport, Louisiana | 26.8 | 47 |
America's Biggest Cities: How Safe Are They?
Large cities get outsized media attention. Here's how every US city with 500,000+ residents actually ranks by violent crime rate:
What Makes a City Dangerous?
Being on this list isn't inevitable. Cities cycle on and off. New York City, once America's most dangerous large city, has transformed into one of the safest big cities per capita. The factors that drive a city onto this list are well-documented:
- Concentrated poverty: The poverty-crime connection is strongest in cities where poverty is concentrated in specific neighborhoods.
- Gang activity and drug markets: Many of the most dangerous cities are major drug trafficking hubs.
- Police staffing: Cities facing a police staffing crisis often see crime spikes.
- Economic decline: Shrinking cities that lost major industries often appear on this list — Detroit, St. Louis, and Memphis share this pattern.
Important Context
Crime rates describe averages across an entire city. Even in the most dangerous cities, most neighborhoods are reasonably safe. Crime tends to concentrate in specific areas — our murder map analysis shows that most homicides cluster in a small fraction of city blocks.
Also note that city boundaries matter. Some cities have boundaries that include suburban areas (lowering their rates), while others are tightly drawn around urban cores (raising them). This can make direct city-to-city comparisons misleading.