The Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in West Virginia

Best and Worst Cities for Property and Violent Crime

Every small town in West Virginia has a story and crime is complex.

We’re not just talking about the Mothman and John Henry. We’re talking about the centuries of history that turn a collection of mountain towns into a cohesive state.

Some cities in West Virginia have relatively high crime rates compared to the national average. Others rank among the safest municipalities in the United States. West Virginia’s most dangerous cities are all over the map — both geographically and statistically.

Nestled right up against the Virginia border, Bluefield is the home of Bluefield State University. Pleasantly cool in the summer and weirdly extra cold in the winter, Bluefield has significantly more violent crimes per capita than any other town in West Virginia, with a 28% higher rate than Wheeling. In addition to Bluefield State, Bluefield is known for being located over one of the world’s largest deposits of black coal. Despite the higher-than-average violent crime rate, Bluefield has the second-lowest property crime rate in the state with just 333 property crimes per 100,000 residents.

Wheeling, home of the Wheeling Nailers, is the second-most violent city in the state. Fortunately, according to the Wheeling Police Department, 2024 was one of the lowest years for crime in the past decade.² The Wheeling Police Department reported drops in all major crime categories, service calls and traffic crashes.

Huntington, the second-largest city in the state, ranks third for violent crime. It’s not all bad news for Cabell County and Wayne County, however. Along with Morgantown, Huntington was the only city in West Virginia to receive a perfect score for LGBTQ safety according to the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index.³ Huntington has received a perfect score for five straight years for its famously inclusive community.

Speaking of coal, let’s talk about Beckley. With a property crime rate of 7,040 per 100,000 residents, the home of  West Virginia University Institute of Technology has roughly 34% more property crimes than the next-leading candidate, Nitro. A significant amount of crime in Raleigh County is linked to fentanyl and other drugs.⁴

Nitro, the only city in the U.S. named after a nitrocellulose plant, ranked second for property crime. It’s unclear if Nitro’s stolen World War I tank, missing since 2005 and recovered in 2024 from a museum in Wyoming, is included in that statistic.⁵

South Charleston, located just up the river from Nitro and home to one of the five Sam’s Clubs in the state, rounds out the top three worst cities in the state for property crime. It’s one reason why the South Charleston Police Department was involved in 2024’s Operation Mattock, which led to 60 felony arrests across southern West Virginia.⁶

Safest Cities in West Virginia

West Virginia is safer than the average state. Some cities, however, have particularly impressive scores and rank among the safest municipalities in America for property crime and violent crime.

West Virginia’s sparse population makes it easy for communities to make this list one year — then drop off the next year because of a single incident. One murder can (statistically) take a city from one of the safest places in the state to one of the most dangerous. That’s why crime stats can be wacky, especially in smaller towns.

Many of the safest cities in West Virginia are small and remote rural areas with low population density. Grafton, Mullens, Spencer and Ravenswood all fall into this category: They’re small cities with 1,500 to 5,000 residents.

Ravenswood is the most prosperous of those four towns. The river town was teetering on abandonment in the early 2010s because of an on-again, off-again plant closure. As of 2025, however, the Constellium plant, located just outside of town along the Ohio River, employs over 1,100 people and continues to be an important economic driver in Jackson County.⁷

Then there are funny anomalies. Bluefield has more violent crimes than any other city in West Virginia, for example, but fewer property crimes than all but one city (Mullens). Barboursville has 11 times less violent crime (69 per 100,000 residents) than Huntington (782 per 100,000 residents), despite being just 20 minutes away from one another and having similar demographics.

West Virginia vs. the National Average

West Virginia ranks better than most states for both violent crime and property crime:

• 35th overall for violent crime (266 violent crimes per 100,000 residents) or 27% below the national average
• 45th overall for property crime (1,195 property crimes per 100,000 residents) or 38% below the national average

West Virginia also ranks well below average in every major crime category but one. While the rape rate is 22.4% higher than the national average, the rates of all other crimes (from murder to aggravated assault to robbery) are significantly lower.

Better yet, crime rates are going down in West Virginia. Over the last year, violent crimes have dropped -4.5% and property crimes have fallen -2.9%.

Which Crimes Are Most Common?

The most common crimes in West Virginia are aggravated assault (202.8 per 100,000 residents) and larceny-theft (924 per 100,000 residents). That’s not as scary as it sounds: aggravated assault and larceny-theft are the most common violent and property crimes nearly everywhere in the country.

Property and violent crime rates

(per 100,000 residents)

As mentioned above, West Virginia has lower-than-average crime rates in all but one category:

• Rape: 22% above national average
• Murder: 14% below national average
• Aggravated assault: 23% below national average
• Burglary: 29% below national average
• Larceny-theft: 31% below national average
• Vehicle theft: 71% below national average
• Robbery: 83% below national average

Why Does West Virginia Have a Low Crime Rate?

Crime is complex in West Virginia and every other state.

Generally, however, experts attribute West Virginia’s historically low crime rates to low population density, aging demographics and low population mobility:

• High rate of rural living: Roughly two-thirds of West Virginians live in rural areas, which is triple the national average. According to the West Virginia Health Care Authority, only eight of the state’s 55 counties are considered “urban.”⁸ West Virginia is the third most rural state in the country, with only Vermont and Maine having a more rural population.⁹ Generally, rural areas with low population density have lower crime rates than urban areas with high population density.
• Population mobility: Crime statisticians frequently reference “population mobility.”¹⁰ Cities with more transient populations tend to have higher crime rates. It’s one reason why tourist towns tend to have higher-than-average crime rates. West Virginia has low population mobility. Generally, people aren’t moving to West Virginia — or away from the state — in large numbers.
• Aging population: Some claim West Virginia has the oldest people, on average, in the United States. That’s not quite true — but it’s close. West Virginia is the fourth oldest state by median age (behind Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont but, surprisingly, ahead of Florida).¹¹

Where Our Crime Data Comes From

Unless otherwise stated, the information in this article is based on crime data compiled by the FBI and made available through the organization’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE). We drew statistics from the FBI’s 2023 Crime in the United States Report, including statewide violent and property crime data from Table 5, metro area data from Table 6 and city-level crime rates from Table 8.

Important note: Crime is complicated and crime rates never tell the full story about an area — especially in a state like West Virginia with a low population and small geographic area. Local context, law enforcement practices and reporting standards can cause variances. Additionally, FBI publication tables and data featured in the Crime Data Explorer may have slight differences because of varying methodologies.