Oklahoma: The Best and Worst Cities for Crime

Though Oklahoma’s crime rates are higher than average, they’ve decreased rapidly since the pandemic.
Oklahoma header map with magnifying glass
Derek Prall
July 26, 2024 Derek Prall Derek Prall , Home Security Expert | July 26, 2024
Statewide Crime Trends in Oklahoma Property Crime in Oklahoma Violent Crime in Oklahoma

Oklahoma has higher violent and property crime rates than many states in the United States despite being a smaller state, but crime has been decreasing rapidly there since the pandemic.

Interestingly, Oklahoma has the dubious distinction of imprisoning more residents for the past generation than any state or province in the world. The Oklahoma City Sentinel reports: “Oklahoma has the unfortunate history of having been number one in incarceration in the world for the last generation.”

Oklahoma city map crime rates

The Sentinel reasoned “that high incarceration rates would lead to an especially safe community with low crime,” but noted that this is not the case in Oklahoma.

That may be because incarceration rates do not necessarily correlate with crime statistics as well as other sociological data like parent involvement in grade school and the Ginni coefficient.

Oklahoma's capital and biggest city, Oklahoma City, has a population of slightly less than 700,000. It ranked in the top third of cities in the state for property crime with a property crime rate of 3,059 and ranked 16th highest for violent crime in the state with 642 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.

Property Crime in Oklahoma

Property crimes in Oklahoma such as burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft ranked the state #11 among U.S. states for these kinds of crimes.

Oklahoma property crime rates bar graph

The least safe city in Oklahoma in terms of its annual property crime rate is Broken Bow, with a rate of 6,768 per 100,000 ― followed by Locust Grove (6,628). The safest city in the Sooner State to live in for a low property crime rate is Elgin, with 26 incidents in the most recent year.

Violent Crime in Oklahoma

Violent crime in Oklahoma made headlines at a gubernatorial debate in 2022 when one of the candidates pointed out that Oklahoma has a higher violent crime rate than New York or California. The statistic even touched off a fact check by a local Fox affiliate. Thankfully, violent crime in Oklahoma has been on the decline and is currently at its lowest point since 2014, according to a report in the Oklahoman.

Oklahoma violent crime rates bar graph

Oklahoma ranks 15 nationwide for violent crime, according to the Uniform Crime Data Report by the FBI. The least safe city in Oklahoma is Muskogee, with 1,111 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The safest cities in Oklahoma by violent crime rate were Piedmont, Cordell, and Stigler.

Our Data

Our data comes from comprehensive reporting compiled by the FBI and accessed via the Crime Data Explorer website. Property and violent crime state figures were drawn from Table 5 of the 2022 Crime in the U.S. Report. Metropolitan figures were found in Table 6, Crime in the U.S. by Metropolitan Statistical Area. City-level figures were drawn from Table 8, Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City. The population figures in that table are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2020.

Limitations: According to the FBI, the data in the publication tables may differ from those released on the Explorer Pages of the CDE. These variations are due to the difference in methodologies between the publication tables and data displayed on the CDE. Please note that crime statistics are not the sole measure of a city’s safety.

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