The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Alabama For 2022

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Alabama For 2022

Welcome to Fairfield, Alabama's most dangerous city. Fairfield residents had a whopping 1 in 47 shot of being the victim of a murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault in 2022, enough to give the city the third highest violent crime rate in Alabama.

That includes having the highest murder rate statewide, with 8 murders recorded over the year. On top of that, Fairfield had the highest property crime rate in Alabama, with over two such crimes going down each day and five burglaries a week.

Looks like the Fairfield Police Department has a full plate when it comes to tackling crime. If you're trying to move to the Birmingham area, steer clear of Fairfield because its high rates of crime landed it on our list of Birmingham's worst suburbs.

Anniston may occupy the #2 position on this list, but it actually has the highest overall crime rate in Alabama, outstripping the national average by over 300%.

Part of that is down to having the second highest burglary rate statewide. We just hope nobody's planning a heist of one of Anniston's museums.

The real issue in Anniston is violent crime, which ranks as the highest worst in Alabama. That includes the second highest rate of rape cases and third highest murder rate. Overall, residents faced a 1 in 33 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2022.

Located in east-central Alabama, Lanett has experienced a population nosedive in recent years, and it's not hard to see why. The small city averaged just under one larceny case a day, so keep a close eye on your catch after a day fishing at West Point Lake.

Lanett also averaged about one rape case per month over 2020, giving it the highest rate of rape cases in Alabama. Lanett is only slightly redeemed by being one of the few places listed here without a single murder.

If you do have to move to Lanett, steer clear of the city's east side, where most of the crime goes down.

You didn't think we forgot about Birmingham, did you? Alabama's 2nd biggest city is also its fourth most dangerous.

Folks in Birmingham had a 1 in 52 chance of being the victim of an aggravated assault, rape, murder, or robbery in 2020, enough to give the city the fourth highest violent crime rate statewide. Including a shocking 88 murders.

Property crime is also all too common here, with 1,752 stolen cars reported in 2022. We just hope nobody steals a racecar from the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, or the police may have a tough time catching the guy.

All that being said, this is a big city, so if you stay away from Birmingham's worst neighborhoods, you should be relatively safe.

We're heading just ten minutes north of Birmingham to reach Alabama's fifth most dangerous place to call home, Tarrant.

You might want to padlock your picnic basket if you're going for a day out at Greenwood Park because the city had the eighth highest property crime rate statewide.

That includes the fifth highest burglary rate in Alabama. All of which makes it easy to see why Tarrant featured on our list of Alabama's worst cities.

At 35,204 people, Gadsden is the second biggest city on this list. That means there are safer areas and not-so-safe areas.

Still, we don't hand out 1/10 SnackAbility scores for no reason. Once an All-American city, today 1 in 5 homes in Gadsden is vacant. And the homes that still have people in them have to contend with high rates of burglary.

Overall, folks had a 1 in 14 chance of being the victim of larceny, car theft, burglary, or arson in 2020. At least you can book a campground at Noccalula Falls Park and take your mind off all Gadsden's crime for a little while.

Located an hour south of Montgomery, Troy ranks as Alabama's seventh least safe city.

Troy's motto is "A Wonderful Place to Live," but we think residents facing 1 in 63 chance of being the victim of a violent crime is anything but "wonderful."

Troy had the fifth highest murder rate in Alabama and averaged five aggravated assaults per week over 2020. In other words, buddy up if you're going to one of Troy's parks, and get home before dark.

Andalusia is the eighth most dangerous place to call home in Alabama for 2022. On average, Andalusia experienced one larceny case each day over 2020. Overall, Andalusia had the tenth highest property crime rate statewide.

So keep an eye on the fish you catch at Open Pond Recreation Area, or your day's haul might get snatched.

On the bright side, Andalusia is the least violent place listed here.

Located about 45 miles south of Montgomery, Greenville moved up 4 spots on this list from last year. Hank Williams grew up in the Greenville area, but we think he'd be disappointed with the crime numbers these days.

Greenville's residents had a 1 in 69 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2020. About 95% of those were "just" aggravated assaults, although we're pretty sure that won't do anything to make the victims feel better.

At least the property crime rate in Greenville is the lowest of cities listed here.

Lincoln is home to the Talladega Super Speedway and International Motorsports Hall of Fame, so it's fair to say that tourists play a role in inflating the city's crime numbers.

Lincoln averaged just under one property crime per day in 2020, so it might be one of the few places where wearing a wallet chain is recommended. And there was about one burglary per week in Lincoln, which definitely means residents rather than tourists were affected.

While violent crime in Lincoln is relatively low, folks still had a 1 in 94 chance of being violently attacked in 2020.

Most Dangerous Places To Live In Alabama FAQs

Is Alabama a dangerous state?

Yes, Alabama is a dangerous state as it ranks as the #12 most dangerous state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in alabama ranks 14th highest in the United States -- 16.96% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Heart of Dixie ranks 19th highest in the United States -- 9.12% worse than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020.

Is Birmingham, AL a dangerous city?

Yes, Birmingham is a dangerous city. Birmingham ranks as the #3 most dangerous out of 320 major cities over 100,000 people in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. Keep in mind that are always safe and dangerous parts of any city, so even though Birmingham might be considered dangerous you still need to be aware of where you are.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Birmingham ranks fourth highest in America -- 248.24% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks fourth highest in the United States -- 137.75% worse than US average property crime rate. Note the latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020 and that no city in America is 'dangerous'. Despite the uptick in murders, it's nothing like you'd see in Tijuana or Caracas where the murder rate is 2x any American city.