The 25 Most Dangerous Cities in America (2025)
The 25 U.S. cities with population 50,000+ and the lowest FBI-based Crime Index scores for 2025, out of 759 cities we track nationally. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer) and are built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports.
Nationally, 194 of 759 tracked cities (26%) carry a grade of D or worse — the cities below are drawn from that group. The median reported homicide rate across all 759 cities is 2.5 per 100k, versus a mean of 4.2 per 100k — the mean sits above the median because a small number of high-homicide cities pull the average up. See the full methodology.
Ranked most dangerous to less dangerous
The 25 lowest Crime Index scores nationally — not the same 25 cities shown on the safest cities in America list.
- 1MemphisF6,877per 100k31.3homicide
- 2OaklandF6,730per 100k12.4homicide
- 3BirminghamF5,694per 100k43.0homicide
- 4ClevelandF5,309per 100k28.3homicide
- 5DetroitF5,604per 100k25.7homicide
- 6KansasF5,352per 100k25.9homicide
- 7St LouisF6,270per 100k51.3homicide
- 8Little RockF5,464per 100k21.9homicide
- 9DaytonF5,242per 100k18.4homicide
- 10PeoriaF5,216per 100k10.8homicide
- 11SpringfieldF5,446per 100k15.5homicide
- 12WichitaF5,838per 100k9.0homicide
- 13PuebloF5,512per 100k9.9homicide
- 14GaryF4,468per 100k32.7homicide
- 15SpringfieldF5,077per 100k5.3homicide
- 16ShreveportF4,763per 100k21.8homicide
- 17MinneapolisF5,517per 100k14.5homicide
- 18CantonF4,486per 100k17.4homicide
- 19ComptonF3,855per 100k20.0homicide
- 20LafayetteF4,599per 100k4.1homicide
- 21AlbuquerqueF5,062per 100k12.7homicide
- 22LansingF3,395per 100k5.2homicide
- 23WilmingtonF4,046per 100k27.1homicide
- 24Salt LakeF5,626per 100k3.1homicide
- 25EvansvilleF4,168per 100k7.0homicide
No area has zero risk
A high Crime Index score means lower reported crime relative to other US cities — it is not a guarantee of safety. Reported crime is not the same as actual crime. Research on the gap between crime that occurs and crime that gets reported to police — often called the "dark figure" of crime — estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime go unreported each year. Every index built on official statistics, including this one, necessarily undercounts real crime. That gap is exactly why homicide — the offense with the smallest dark figure — anchors the calculation instead of a more commonly reported but less reliable category like theft.
Scores on this page reflect FBI-reported data for 2025. See the full methodology →