Most Dangerous States in the United States (2024)

Ranking of 50 U.S. states by crime rate per 100,000 residents, based on FBI NIBRS data. Broken down by assault, homicide, robbery, and sex offense rates. Explore the full data on our interactive crime map. Also see: Safest states in the US.

Most Dangerous Safest

0 per 100K

The most dangerous states by assault rate are: New Mexico (1,626 per 100K); Nevada (1,578 per 100K); Arkansas (1,570 per 100K); Tennessee (1,533 per 100K); Alabama (1,417 per 100K). Based on 2024 FBI NIBRS data. 50 states included.

Not all agencies report every offense category consistently. Some states may show unusually low rates for specific crime types due to differences in classification or reporting practices, rather than actual low incidence.

#	State	Population	Assault	Homicide	Robbery	Sex Offenses
1	New Mexico	2,130,256	1,626	11	63	82
2	Nevada	3,267,467	1,578	6	62	89
3	Arkansas	3,088,354	1,570	7	39	84
4	Tennessee	7,227,750	1,533	9	59	71
5	Alabama	5,157,699	1,417	8	35	34
6	Oklahoma	4,095,393	1,367	7	38	103
7	South Carolina	5,478,831	1,347	8	35	60
8	Michigan	10,140,459	1,301	6	31	94
9	Illinois	12,710,158	1,294	5	89	65
10	Delaware	1,051,917	1,282	6	47	37
11	Texas	31,290,831	1,280	6	64	68
12	Kansas	2,970,606	1,132	5	25	72
13	North Dakota	796,568	1,129	3	27	114
14	South Dakota	924,669	1,116	4	23	79
15	Missouri	6,245,466	1,089	8	52	61
16	Louisiana	4,597,740	1,074	7	28	45
17	Ohio	11,883,304	1,055	5	45	71
18	North Carolina	11,046,024	1,032	7	49	52
19	Maryland	6,263,220	1,020	7	123	61
20	Nebraska	2,005,465	985	4	21	77
21	Virginia	8,811,195	982	5	33	56
22	Georgia	11,180,878	938	6	36	62
23	Montana	1,137,233	915	3	19	133
24	Colorado	5,957,493	913	5	63	92
25	Indiana	6,924,275	886	5	33	59
26	Washington	7,958,180	885	4	67	62
27	Iowa	3,241,488	874	2	19	55
28	Massachusetts	7,136,171	857	2	34	45
29	New Hampshire	1,409,032	822	3	13	86
30	Wyoming	587,618	810	4	7	81
31	Utah	3,503,613	807	2	28	138
32	Oregon	4,272,371	799	4	57	75
33	Kentucky	4,588,372	753	6	35	51
34	Maine	1,405,012	745	4	11	56
35	Arizona	7,582,384	732	3	23	45
36	Rhode Island	1,112,308	712	2	22	40
37	Hawaii	1,446,146	707	1	38	44
38	California	39,431,263	702	3	75	53
39	West Virginia	1,769,979	687	5	10	67
40	Idaho	2,001,619	670	2	7	85
41	Wisconsin	5,960,975	670	5	40	60
42	Minnesota	5,793,151	653	4	49	73
43	Connecticut	3,675,069	642	3	38	37
44	Mississippi	2,943,045	577	4	10	24
45	New Jersey	9,500,851	551	2	38	29
46	Vermont	648,493	522	3	14	40
47	Pennsylvania	13,078,751	508	4	42	39
48	Florida	23,372,215	488	2	21	19
49	Alaska	740,133	358	2	11	31
50	New York	19,867,248	281	1	10	10

Frequently Asked Questions

Which are the most dangerous states in the United States?

Based on 2024 FBI NIBRS data, the states with the highest overall crime rates are: New Mexico (7,019 per 100K), Nevada (6,106 per 100K), Tennessee (6,020 per 100K), Arkansas (5,828 per 100K), Colorado (5,809 per 100K).

Which are the safest states in the United States?

The states with the lowest overall crime rates are: New York (1,051 per 100K), Alaska (1,153 per 100K), Florida (1,851 per 100K), Mississippi (2,291 per 100K), Pennsylvania (2,409 per 100K).

Which states have the most homicides per capita?

The states with the highest homicide rates per 100,000 residents are: New Mexico (11 per 100K), Tennessee (9 per 100K), Missouri (8 per 100K), Alabama (8 per 100K), South Carolina (8 per 100K).

Which states have the most robberies per capita?

The states with the highest robbery rates are: Maryland (123 per 100K), Illinois (89 per 100K), California (75 per 100K), Washington (67 per 100K), Texas (64 per 100K).

Which states have the most sex offenses per capita?

The states with the highest sex offense rates are: Utah (138 per 100K), Montana (133 per 100K), North Dakota (114 per 100K), Oklahoma (103 per 100K), Michigan (94 per 100K). Note: reporting practices for sex offenses vary significantly between agencies.

What data is this based on?

This ranking uses data from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for 2024. NIBRS collects detailed information about each criminal incident from participating law enforcement agencies across the United States.

How is the crime rate calculated?

Crime rates are calculated as the number of reported offenses per 100,000 residents. This allows fair comparison between states of different sizes.

Why are some states missing?

Not all law enforcement agencies participate in NIBRS. All 50 states are included, though coverage varies as not every agency within a state participates in NIBRS.

What's the difference between NIBRS and UCR?

UCR collected aggregate monthly counts. NIBRS replaced it with detailed per-incident data including victims, offenders, weapons, and locations. As of 2024, the FBI only accepts NIBRS data.

Methodology

Crime rates are per 100,000 residents using Census 2024 population estimates.

Assault — aggravated assault, simple assault, and intimidation.
Homicide — murder, non-negligent manslaughter, and negligent manslaughter.
Robbery — taking property by force or threat of force.
Sex Offenses — forcible rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object, and fondling.

Reporting caveat: Individual crime categories may be underreported by some agencies due to differences in classification practices.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer