The Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Cities With the Highest and Lowest Crime Rates

As an original colony and site of the Constitutional Convention, Pennsylvania’s proud history has mirrored every American era: from an agrarian founding through industrial revolutions fueled by vast local reservoirs of coal and petroleum. Coinciding boom-and-bust cycles have left affluent areas and pockets of poverty across the commonwealth, often corresponding to crime peaks and valleys.

Pennsylvania cities with the highest and lowest crime rates

(per 100,000 people)

Note: Excluding cities with crime rates of zero. Source: 2023 FBI Data

Violent Crime in Pennsylvania

Speaking of valleys, McKeesport, in the struggling Monongahela Valley north of Pittsburgh, registered Pennsylvania’s highest violent crime rate, with nearly 1,500 incidents per 100,000 residents. A former industrial center for steel and metal tubing, the town’s fortunes peaked during WWII but have spiraled downward since. Across recent decades, McKeesport’s population plummeted by two-thirds, accelerated by incidents like 1976’s “Famous Fire” and the closure of local mills a decade later.² The city’s sense of safety has similarly diminished, with trust recently tested by a viral example of the possible use of excessive force by local police.³

Just south of Pittsburgh, the town of Farrell has also suffered a “Rust Belt” fate and posts nearly identical violent crime numbers as McKeesport — more than four times the nationwide average. Farrell was the first Pennsylvania municipality officially declared financially distressed in the 1980s,⁴ even before losing the Sharon Steel Mill in the 1990s. More recently, the town saw the Sharon Regional Medical Center shutter,⁵ eliminating 700 jobs in a community of barely 4,000. Once called “The Magic City,” Farrell has seemingly lost its enchantment.

Plymouth, Pennsylvania, has the state's third-highest violent crime rate. It lies to the east, where the coal industry's collapse is to blame for ongoing financial hardship. Just outside Scranton — which native son Joe Biden touted as a hardscrabble town — Plymouth has fallen on hard times marked by high unemployment, elevated poverty levels, and an opioid crisis plaguing its Luzerne County.

Proving that perseverant Pittsburgh also boasts quaint communities, two of Pennsylvania’s safest towns are numbered among its suburbs. In South Park Township only seven violent crimes occur per 100,000 citizens, while nearby Murrysville suffers only 10 violent crimes per 100,000. Outside Philadelphia, residents of historic Whitpain Township largely live without pain, enjoying a violent crime rate likely lower than at the town’s founding 324 years ago.

Property Crime in Pennsylvania

Wilkes-Barre is another fading gem of Pennsylvania’s bygone coal mining prosperity. Though the township retains the nickname “Diamond City,” you wouldn’t want to store precious gems there; its property crime rate is the state’s worst by far and ranks as the 11th highest in the nation. Oddly enough, the town is only 15 miles from Harveys Lake — one of the state's safest havens from property crime, with a rate that’s 0.3 percent of its more larcenous neighbor.

Pennsylvania's second-highest property crime rate is found in one of the state's tiniest towns: East Lansdowne. A minuscule borough created from one family farm, it spans 0.2 square miles and is home to approximately 2,700 people. This combination supplies both the high population density and low population total that can inflate crime rates per 100,000 residents. Plymouth notched an undesirable double-whammy by registering the state's third-highest rate for property crime, matching its violent crime ranking.

Suburban Pittsburgh’s North Braddock experienced Pennsylvania’s lowest property crime rate, suggesting there isn’t much stealing in that part of “Steel City.” Lancaster Township also boasted a very low property crime rate; lying at the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, those numbers may speak loudly about the quiet, law-abiding nature of the local Amish community.

Statewide Crime Trends in Pennsylvania

Despite featuring two major metropolises and an economy historically tied to two dying industries, Pennsylvania maintains a safe environment with good marks on both violent crime (34th in the nation) and property crime (35th). Called the “Keystone State” because it connected several original colonies, today it’s a shining example to most of the six states it borders. Pennsylvania’s crime numbers are notably better than Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Ohio, about the same as New Jersey, and slightly worse than West Virginia.

Property Crime in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania recently gained national attention for a particular property crime when a man entered and burned the governor’s mansion.⁶ Despite that fiery headline, the state’s overall property crime rate remains admirable: Its 1,579 offenses per 100,000 residents is 18 percent lower than the national norm. PA’s burglary rate (138 crimes per 100,000 residents) is especially low, ranking 45 percent below the country’s average. Its larceny rate (1,176 incidents per 100,000 residents, 13 percent better than the U.S. average) and vehicle theft frequency (265 reports per 100,000 residents, 17 percent under the national rate) are also impressive. However, the Quaker State’s property crime rate grew 6.5 percent since the last report, which may be one reason legislators recently enacted tougher retail theft laws.⁷

Violent Crime in Pennsylvania

Overall, Pennsylvania has a commendable violent crime rate (266 offenses per 100,000 residents) 27 percent below the nationwide average — and a 5 percent drop in year-over-year comparisons. Particularly encouraging were the relatively low frequency of rapes (25 reports per 100,000 citizens) and aggravated assaults (171 attacks per 100,000 Pennsylvanians) that each placed one-third beneath national figures. The robbery rate (64 per 100,000), however, was only 5 percent below American norms. More troubling, murders are 16 percent more common in Pennsylvania than nationally (6.6 homicides per 100,000 people). Some municipalities have tried to curb gun deaths by enacting stricter local firearm ordinances, yet the state's Supreme Court struck down this approach.⁸

Where Our Crime Numbers Come From

Unless specified otherwise, the information in this article is based on crime data compiled by the FBI and made available through the Crime Data Explorer. Statewide violent and property crime statistics are drawn from the FBI’s 2023 Crime in the United States Report (Table 5), and for city-level crime rates, we referred to Table 8, which lists reported offenses by state and city.

Important Note: Crime statistics offer valuable insights, but they aren't the only way to evaluate a community's safety. Local context, law enforcement practices, and reporting standards can all influence how crime is recorded. Additionally, FBI publication tables and the data displayed on the Crime Data Explorer may differ slightly due to variations in methodology.