The 15 Most Dangerous States in America (2025)
The 15 U.S. states with the lowest statewide FBI-based Crime Index scores for 2025. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer) and are built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports, aggregated across each state's reporting agencies.
9 of 51 states (50 states + DC) carry a limited-data flag for 2025 — fewer than 60% of their population is covered by agencies that reported to the FBI. Those states are marked with below, and a low ranking there should be read with extra caution. See the full methodology.
Ranked most dangerous to less dangerous
Statewide averages — not the same 15 states shown on the safest states in America list.
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 →