2023 Crime Rates in U.S. Cities Report

National Violent and Property Crime Trends

Though rates vary widely by location and population, nationwide numbers show that crime remains a persistent problem in towns and cities across the country.

Violent crimes have proven particularly pervasive across American cities. Total violent crimes jumped sharply in 2020 and rose slightly in 2021, leaving the nation's cities more dangerous today than ten years ago. Robbery is the only violent crime to drop in American cities over the last decade, while murder has jumped nearly 50 percent.

The news is more encouraging concerning property crimes. Though property offenses climbed slightly over the last year, they're down significantly in American cities since 2011.  Overall, urban property crime has dropped more than one-quarter, and burglaries have been cut in half – only motor vehicle theft has climbed in the last decade.

These numbers reflect combined crime statistics of cities spanning all sizes – realities can change widely depending on whether you live in a small town or a major metropolis.

Crime in Large Cities (Populations over 500,000)

The recent surge in urban crime has centered in major American cities. The nation has nearly 40 cities with populations exceeding one-half million people, and collectively their crime rates last year jumped almost 10X the national urban average.

Violent Crime Rates in Large Cities

Total violent crimes jumped nearly 10 percent in large American cities between 2020 and 2021, continuing a decade-long trend of rising violent crime rates. New York is one of the nation’s most violent cities, and Chicago has become a go-to example for highlighting gun violence. Still, neither city was the most dangerous when looking at violent crimes per capita.

Among America’s largest cities, Memphis, Detroit, and Milwaukee all rank near the top for individual violent crimes. Detroit's murder rate dropped slightly in 2021, yet still ranks as the second most deadly behind only Memphis (with a murder rate 6X the national urban average).

Denver and Albuquerque emerged as large cities with elevated risks of rape. Houston posted the highest robbery rate per 100K citizens.

Top 3 large cities with highest violent crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Property Crime Rates in Large Cities

Though the property crime rate across all American cities hardly grew during 2021, large cities had a 22 percent increase over the previous year.

Memphis and Milwaukee appear near the top of property crime categories as well. Still, large cities of the Pacific Northwest presented competition with high rates of burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. Portland has seen a spike in property crimes that law enforcement attributes to staffing shortages. At the same time, Washington enacted dramatic police reform in 2021 that may have hindered Seattle's handling of property crime.

Large cities with highest property crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Crime in Medium-Sized Cities (Population 250,000-499,999)

Medium-sized American cities recorded the most impressive improvement in crime rates in 2021. This population category was the only one where violent and property crimes decreased compared to the previous year.

Medium-Sized Cities: Violent Crimes

Violent crime across all medium-sized cities decreased by seven percent in the latest national report, making it the only size category to notch a reduction over the previous year.

Saint Louis was the deadliest medium-sized city in America, with a murder rate higher than any large-sized city. Despite a murder rate that dropped by nearly one-quarter from the previous year, its per capita killings remain 8X the national urban average.

Cleveland is the second deadliest midrange city and the only medium-sized municipality to register in the top three of every violent crime category. New Orleans, second in murders and rapes for midsize cities last year, dropped from the top three in both offenses.

Medium cities with highest violent crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Medium-Sized Cities: Property Crimes

Saint Louis's criminal problems extended to property offenses – the Gateway to the West led medium-sized cities in larcenies and had the second-highest motor vehicle theft rate. Tulsa, however, proved most notorious among midsize urban areas for property crimes. It ranked within the top three cities for burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft rates.

Medium cities with highest property crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Crime in Small Cities (Population 100,000-249,999)

Though crimes are rarer in small American cities than in larger urban areas, violent and property offenses jumped by double-digits in 2021, leaving crime rates nearly equal to midsize cities.

Violent crimes jumped 15 percent in small cities in 2021, leaving the rate 8 percent higher than ten years ago. Rape offenses made the most notable climb – the 24 percent increase over the previous year was the most for any size category.  Additionally, the murder rate in small cities has leaped nearly 50 percent in the past decade, demonstrating how violence has permeated all levels of society.

Small Cities: Violent Crimes

Based on the latest crime statistics, Mobile, Alabama is undoubtedly the nation’s most dangerous small city – posting the highest rate of murders, rapes, and assaults of any locale in the category. Pueblo, Colorado also ranked in the top three for multiple offenses. Surprisingly, Salt Lake City featured the third highest rate of rapes among small cities, which may tie to recent complaints of investigative and prosecutorial negligence.

Small cities with highest violent crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Small Cities: Property Crimes

Mobile, Alabama nearly completed a dubious sweep of every major crime category, but finished second to Tacoma, Washington for motor vehicle theft rates among small cities. With almost 8,000 larcenies per 100K residents, Mobile had one-third more than any other small city.

Colorado posted two small cities with major property crime issues: Pueblo for burglary and Westminster for motor vehicle theft.

Small cities with highest property crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Crime in Extra Small Cities (Population 10,000-99,999)

We categorize extra-small cities as those with 10,000 to 99,999 people. Smaller populations make per capita numbers more vulnerable to dramatic swings, revealing surprising surges and danger in unexpected places.

Extra-Small Cities: Violent Crimes

The murder rate in extra-small cities has grown 42 percent in 10 years. Statistics also show that rape occurs in extra-small cities nearly as often as in the largest urban areas, and only in extra-small cities is a citizen more likely to be raped than robbed.

Giant metropolises record far more killings each year than extra-small cities, yet some smaller towns have a far higher rate of murder per capita. Three extra-small cities posted murder rates higher than 80 per 100K residents, and Greenwood, South Carolina was the deadliest.

The frequency of rapes in the three most dangerous extra-small cities also dwarfed the rate of far larger cities. Ypsilanti, Michigan registered 275 rapes per 100K residents – more than twice the number in nearby Detroit.

Extra-small cities with highest violent crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Extra Small Cities: Property Crimes

Even as property crimes grew across the board in small American cities, extra-small cities showed improvement in every property crime category.

Despite these encouraging property crime numbers from extra-small cities, some outliers post numbingly high offense rates. The most eye-catching is Tukwila, Washington, where a remarkable rate of over 12,000 larcenies per 100K residents outpaces any other city by more than 50 percent. In the heart of the Sea-Tac corridor between Seattle and Tacoma, the city claims that hosting many businesses and commuters compared to only 20,000 inhabitants inflates its annual crime stats.

Extra-small cities with highest property crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Conclusion

Violent crime had a downward trajectory in American cities throughout the 2010s. COVID and its resulting lockdowns may have contributed to the spike in violent crimes starting in 2020 and 2021 (the most recent year for detailed city crime statistics). Updated statistics from 2022 may reveal whether this escalation is the new norm, but some early indicators suggest violent crime may be gradually dipping again.

Meanwhile, property crimes continued to drop in American cities in 2021 and are dramatically down (aside from motor vehicle thefts) across the last decade. Though the decline slowed during the pandemic (especially in larger cities), composite trends remain encouraging.

Overall, America's largest cities have the highest crime rates, but standouts are found in towns of all sizes. Murders per capita are highest in some of the nation's extra-small urban areas, while small cities are now nearly as dangerous as midsized ones. Media figures and politicians alike focus on the crime rates in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. However, towns like Tulsa, Mobile, and Greenwood are actually more dangerous to the average inhabitant.

Our Data

This project analyzed the FBI’s Crime in the United States (CIUS) Reports from the years 2011 through 2021. The year 2016 was excluded because it was reported by county that year, rather than by city or town. By analyzing CIUS Table 8 (Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City) from each year, we were able to aggregate each of the offenses and group them according to state and/or city size and show the trends over that 10-year period.