You not only have to worry about killer snakes, killer cacti, and killer heat in Arizona, you now have to worry about its dangerous cities.
Lucky for you, we have the top 10 most dangerous cities in Arizona broken down for you.
Why did we produce this list? Well, we’re trying to help one navigate these dangerous cities when trying to make an informed decision on what city they should call home.
To compile our list, we looked at violent crimes and property crimes in cities with a population of 5,000.
Let’s be real, we’re not talking about snowbird drivers driving too slow kind of danger. The type of danger we’re talking about gets people on the news.
Folks, the cities that made our list have robberies happening in broad daylight, car jackings, and daily shootings. There are neighborhoods in these cities that you shouldn’t drive thru, ever, and there are areas that you definitely shouldn’t be in after dark.
We’re not saying that there aren’t little pockets of goodness in these cities. There are neighborhoods and shopping centers in these Arizona cities that are not ALL bad. We do, however, recommend that you spend some time studying them before you make a move.
It’s not entirely Arizona’s fault. They are the 14th largest state in terms of population. As with most situations, there’s bound to be problems with that many people. And it wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t mention that there are good people and organizations in these cities trying to make a difference
To see where these Arizona cities with more issues than a magazine are located, take a look below at our most dangerous cities in The Grand Canyon State for 2019.
What are the circumstances that make these Arizona cities this way? Maybe not enough jobs, low wages, drugs, gangs; and in Arizona’s case, higher than normal temps making people act crazy?
We’re not entirely sure. But one thing we are sure about is the number one most dangerous city in Arizona for 2019 is Tolleson.
The Arizona cities on our most dangerous list could definitely use some some good luck. So, if you’re looking to take a gamble, or you’re just curious to see if your city made the list, take a look at our list below. And if you don’t see your city there, head to the bottom.
Or learn more about the safest places in Arizona.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.
For more Arizona reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Arizona
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Arizona
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Arizona
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Arizona
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Arizona For 2019
While Tolleson’s motto is “honoring our past, positioning our future,” its 1st place spot on this list puts a grim cloud over its future prospects.
It’s 1st in property crime, with residents facing a 1 in 9.4 chance.
The good news for the city’s future is that violent crime has fallen in recent years.
Located in south-central Arizona, Globe was founded as a mining camp. Today it’s the 2nd most dangerous city in the state.
Unlike other cities on the list, Globe has seen a recent boom in crime, with violent crime going up from 2015-17, and property crime also going up.
Watch your wallet in Globe, because there’s a 1 in 13.3 chance of being the victim of a property crime while you’re there.
It seems that the Holbrook is a hub of crime.
Though residents of Holbrook had a 1 in 115 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2017, that’s not too bad relative to other cities of its size.
Property crime now stands as the 5th worst in Arizona.
Tucson’s 4th place ranking on this list isn’t much of a surprise — it’s the 2nd biggest city in Arizona.
Tucson ranked 4th for property crime, 2017’s numbers reflect a 1 in 19.0 chance of being the victim of one.
Tucson’s slowly falling violent crime statistics are much worse than the state average coming in at 5th place.
Crime in Tucson was fairly limited to various areas throughout the city. As like all other locations, schools, environment, neighborhoods all had their ups and downs. But for the most part, it was a great place to be.
Tucson was great, the weather was perfect, if you can stand dry heat and hot temperatures. Just the atmosphere there was good. You have Phoenix an hour or so away, Vegas, California, all within hours of a drive. Worked on the military base there, and it was a large area, great jobs, great people. Loved going out downtown to the city and going to the various bars, clubs.
Also located in Navajo County, Winslow has the honor of being a city referenced in the Eagles song “Take it Easy.”
Unfortunately, it’s also the 6th most dangerous city in Arizona, with residents 1 in 98 odds of being the victim of a violent crime.
The good news is that violent crime has been dropping steadily, and property crime is down 33% in the last 2 year period that data is available.
Page’s motto is “the center of Canyon County,” but the city is also the center of the 6th highest danger level in Arizona.
To give you an idea just how much more dangerous South Tucson is than anywhere else, though, consider that Page, as the 6th most dangerous, has a 3 times lower rate of violent crime and half the rate of property crime.
While that still leaves a 1 in 119chance of being the victim of a violent crime, the encouraging news is that this rate has fallen by 44% from 2015-17, and property crime also fell some in the same time period.
Kingman is the 7th most violent city in the state.
Both categories of crime have been going up between 2015-17.
Folks in Kingman have about 1 violent crime per 222 residents.
Glendale is only 9 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix, making it the closest city on this list to Arizona’s capital.
While there’s still a 1 in 22.1 chance of being the victim of a property crime in Glendale, their crime statistics in both categories have been falling steadily.
We looked all around the Phoenix area before selecting Glendale. Close proximity to medical help was a must, as was easy access to shopping, entertainment and outdoor activities. Although we no longer have children in school, good schools were also a priority. To our surprise the church we were interested in, happens to almost be across the street. Having the feeling of space and being near the mountains was important to us as well, during our search. Our neighbors are wonderful and we have a lovely mountain view from our back patio. A quick drive/walk gets one to hiking and other outdoor activities. At this time, it does not feel as congested as other parts of the Phoenix area. City water was also a priority as some of the builders we looked at are subsidizing water costs. Later on that could become an expensive proposition. When asked what is not to like, I am still thinking about it and haven’t come up with anything.
Our neighborhood nests up to a mountain and there is this wonderful feeling of openness. Homes and subdivisions around us are all well maintained and attractive. It seems all around there are beautiful views in every direction. On the downside, traffic here is crazy near the 101 access. At first we thought all of the wild, fast and rude drivers were in some of the more well to do areas, where we had vacationed, but it turns out they are out in force everywhere. At least AZ has tried to plan ahead for roads/routes to try to handle the traffic. Some of the large cities in the Midwest pale in comparison on that issue.
Located in Navajo County, Show Low’s unusual name is the result of a marathon poker game with no less than 100,000 acres at stake.
It has the 5th place position on this list, and 3rd worst violent crime statistics in the state.
And the 1 in 85 chance of being the victim of a violent crime isn’t getting any better — from 2015-17, the amount of violent crime rose by 35%.
Tempe might be one of the smallest city to make this list, but it proves that small towns can be every bit as dangerous as big cities.
Tempe has seen their property crime statistics drop by over 10% from 2015-17.
Still, for every year you’re within Tempe city limits, you face a greater than 1 in 24.3 chance of being robbed.
I like Tempe because it’s where I grew up. It’s pretty central to a lot of places. The Phoenix Zoo and Downtown Phoenix are very close to Tempe as well. Tempe is home to Arizona State University too. There are lots of neighborhood parks and activities that happen year round in Downtown Tempe.
Favorite places are Tempe Town Lake. The neighborhoods in South Tempe are really nice. Some bad things are that so many people are moving here and there is a lot of development which is good for a city’s growth but it has taken away the small town feel that we had here when I was kid.
How Is Your Town In ?
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Arizona for 2019?
Every year the FBI release two crime datasets, a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in the country, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.
For our analysis, we focused on the JUST released 2017 data, specifically the 2017 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2019.
So what criteria did we use? Have a look:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 49 cities in Arizona.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 49 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in Arizona — Tolleson.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Arizona.
Locking It All Up In Arizona
The latest FBI crime data shows that Tolleson ranks as the most dangerous city in Arizona for 2019.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Tolleson and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.
If you’re curious enough, here are the safest cities in Arizona:
- Thatcher (Pop. 5,054)
- Oro Valley (Pop. 44,251)
- Florence (Pop. 25,623)
For more Arizona reading, check out:
Page Motto correction.. “You don’t lose your girlfriend, you lose your turn.” Years ago, you could buy bumper stickers and magnets that said that.
Theft is probably out highest crime in the area. We have out fair share of runaways, more rape and molestation then reported because of corruption in police and courts. Shit hole.
This is a very lame ‘article’ and roadsnacks is a waste of time and downright stupid.
I dont know cities, only counties. How safe is Cochise county? What about Navajo County?
Casa Grande isn’t on this list, yet has over 50,000 people
Ive lived in glendale over 17yrs and it use to be very people friendly and clean turned to south phx all the bums and money bummers yeah its dangerous moved away from glendale awhile not what it usd to be trashy people walking down the road south phx is just as trashy as glendale