The Best and Worst Cities for Crime in Indiana

While the state of Indiana has lower crime rates than many other Midwestern states, some of its cities and towns have surging crime. For example, the Muncie metro area, home to Ball State University (the state’s third-largest public college/university), ranks 12th among all metro areas for its homicide rate.

Given that crime is a hyper-local issue, it’s only fair to explore crime around Indiana cities. Generally, the larger the community, the more crime will take place there. This holds true for many of Indiana’s biggest metro areas, including Indianapolis, where the murder rate is 11 per 100,000 people, nearly double the overall rate of the state. But Indy is not the state leader for murder. As we’ve already touched on, that dubious distinction goes to Muncie, which ranks 12th among the 300-plus metro areas with available data.

Indiana metro area crime rates per 100,000 people (rank among 300+ metro areas)

While crime is more common in larger cities, that’s not to say that smaller communities aren’t also at risk of criminal incidents. Bristol, Indiana, for example, has the highest property crime rate outside of metro areas — 3,702 per 100,000 people. It’s important to note, though, that Bristol’s high rate is likely due at least partly to two big factors: its small population (1,600) and its close proximity to another, larger community, Elkhart, part of the Elkhart-Goshen metro area. There is a third factor that could play a role in Bristol’s high property crime rate — it’s home to the RV Hall of Fame,¹ which attracts tourists to the town.