The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Missouri For 2023


We used data and science to identify the most dangerous cities in the Show Me State for 2023.

Most dangerous cities in Missouri research summary. We analyzed the most recent FBI crime data to determine the most dangerous cities in Missouri based on violent and property crimes per capita. Here are the results of our analysis:

  • The most dangerous city in Missouri is Springfield based on the most recent FBI crime data.

  • The violent crime rate in Missouri is 1,568 per 100k people.

  • The property crime rate in Missouri is 6,473 per 100k people.

  • The safest city in Missouri is Cottleville.

  • Missouri is the 7th most dangerous state in the United States.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | FAQs | References


It seems there’s more to worry about than angry St. Louis Cardinal fans and trucks with loaded gun racks in Missouri, there are also super dangerous places.

To be honest, the good people of Missouri shouldn’t be too shocked. They are, after all, the tenth most dangerous state in the country. Silly fan fights and country folk that want to show off should be the least of the public’s concerns. What everyone should be concerned with is where you can live without fear in the Show Me State.

So, if you’re currently living in Missouri looking to relocate or are wanting to move to Missouri, RoadSnacks suggest you take a look at our most dangerous places in the Cave State for 2023 before you make any major life decisions.

Why’d we make this list? We did this for the people who don’t necessarily want to travel to these places, but want to know the facts. And the facts are as follows: one, the state’s violent and property crime is up above the national average and still climbing; and two, the effects of these numbers are continuing to claim many of Missouri’s biggest cities. Cities like Kansas City and Springfield just can’t catch a break.

How did we do it? We consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 124 cities. We looked at the FBI’s latest crime report for violent crime and property crime statistics for every place with over 5,000 residents.

So, want to know the places in Missouri where the ‘lines are ALWAYS grey’ and the locals are hoping for better days? Keep reading.

It’s not entirely Missouri’s fault. There are close to 6.2 million people inside this flyover state; and in our experience, there’s bound to be problems with that many people.

What’s the place that has the most problems in Missouri–the state’s most dangerous city? The most dangerous place in Missouri would be Springfield.

Take a look at the list below to see the rest of Missouri’s most dangerous places.

Learn more about the safest places in Missouri.

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 Missouri reading, check out:

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Missouri For 2023

For the third year running, Missouri’s third-biggest city, Springfield, ranks as the most dangerous place to call home in the state. While Springfield didn’t rank #1 in violent or property crime, fifth highest place rankings in both categories lands it at the top of this list.

Springfield had the tenth highest rate of rape cases in Missouri for 2021, averaging just about one a day over the year. On top of that, Springfield had the seventh highest burglary rate in Missouri, so it’s a good idea to lock your doors here.

Overall, residents had a 1 in 15 chance of being the victim of a property crime over 2021, so you’ll want to watch your wallets and purses when you’re strolling around Nathanial Greene/Close Memorial Park.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 168,988
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,568 (Fifth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,473 (Fourth most dangerous)
More on Springfield:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Springfield, MO

Located in Clay County, Missouri, North Kansas City is ranked as the second most dangerous place to live in the state for 2023. With a population of around 5,110, this independent municipality within the Kansas City metropolitan area faces significant safety challenges. The crime statistics paint a concerning picture.

While North Kansas City’s crime rates are alarming, it is important to note that the city has the potential for improvement with dedicated efforts. Being part of the larger Kansas City metropolitan area provides an opportunity for collaboration and sharing of resources to combat crime effectively. With a collective effort from local authorities and community members, North Kansas City can work towards creating a safer environment for its residents.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,110
Rank Last Year:
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,135 (Ninth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 11,056 (Most dangerous)
More on North Kansas City:  | Crime Report

North Kansas City, MO

Hey! We’re headed to Nevada! Stack those chips and call the buffets, it’s time for one of those “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” type of vacations.

Wait…what? This is Nevada, Missouri. Alright, not the trip we had planned, but it could still be fun. After all, there’s a Bushwhacker Museum and a golf course.

But, unfortunately, there’s also a pronounced crime problem. Violent crime represents a particular issue. With a population of just 8,177 people, this Nevada suffered 131 aggravated assaults and 17 sexual assaults.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 8,177
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,858 (Third most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,270 (11th most dangerous)
More on Nevada:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Nevada, MO

You certainly won’t find Berkeley on our list of the best St. Louis suburbs and crime is a big reason why.

Berkeley hasplenty of parks, but we wouldn’t recommend visiting them alone or after dark, considering the crime.

Berkeley averaged just under two violent crimes per week and more than one property crime per day in 2021, but the really crazy thing here is the prevalence of car theft. Berkeley’s population is just 8,868, but 109 of those people had their cars robbed in 2021.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,868
Rank Last Year:
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,950 (Second most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,221 (12th most dangerous)
More on Berkeley:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Berkeley, MO

Known as the home of the the Gateway Arch, St. Louis is also a gateway to high crime rates. St. Louis is Missouri’s sixth most violent city, recording 4,387 rapes, murders, robberies, and assaults over 2021.

St. Louis stands out by having the second highest murder rate in Missouri by a wide margin, recording one murder about every other day over the year.

Your car isn’t even safe in St. Louis, considering 3,509 people had their cars stolen in St. Louis in 2021. And that only represents a fraction of the 16,146 property crimes committed.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 295,536
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 4)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,484 (Sixth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,463 (Tenth most dangerous)
More on St. Louis:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

St. Louis, MO

Kennett is a town of 9,946 folks located in the far southeastern part of Missouri, near the border with Arkansas. This spot, set amid a generally rural part of the state, has one major claim to fame: it serves as the birthplace of singer Sheryl Crow. However, when she comes back home, all she wants to do is avoid getting her stuff stolen.

The community suffers the number 2 highest pace of burglaries in the state. It also sees a frighteningly high rate of violent crimes. This includes 6 sexual assaults — leading to one of the scariest rates in Missouri.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 9,946
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 2)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 774 (16th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,962 (Fifth most dangerous)
More on Kennett:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Kennett, MO

Kansas City is used to winning by now, between the Chiefs and the Royals. But getting used to high rates of crime is another matter.

Missouri’s biggest city had the fifth highest murder rate in 2021, recording about three per week on average. Overall, residents had a 1 in 67 chance of being the victim of a violent attack over the year.

On the flip-side, the property crime rate in Kansas City is the lowest on this list. And, being a big place, if you stick to Kansas City’s safest neighborhoods, you should be fine.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 500,965
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,476 (Seventh most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,283 (16th most dangerous)
More on Kansas City:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Kansas City, MO

Known for hosting the Missouri State Fair and the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia sees a lot of extra action thanks to these events. Unfortunately, Sedalia also sees a good amount of crime.

Sedalia had 673 larcenies in 2021, or about two a day. That’s a lot of picked pockets and snatched purses for a city of 21,742. The city also had about three aggravated assaults per week over the year, the biggest contributor to Sedalia 12th highest-place ranking in violent crime.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 21,742
Rank Last Year:
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 947 (12th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,208 (17th most dangerous)
More on Sedalia:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Sedalia, MO

Located in southwestern Missouri, Joplin has a substantial property crime problem. JoMo’s property crime rate ranked as the second highest in Missouri, with burglary rates ranking as the fifth highest.

In other words, you’re more likely to have your phone stolen than to lose it over Joplin’s Grand Falls.

Overall, Joplin is the least violent place on this list. There is a catch, though, as the city still had the 2highest rate of rape cases in Missouri in 2021.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 50,970
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 531 (28th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,802 (Second most dangerous)
More on Joplin:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Joplin, MO

These days, almost everyone has heard of Ferguson. This suburb of St. Louis made national headlines in 2014 when the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer sparked waves of protests and looting.

Unfortunately, the added attention has done little to heal the underlying social problems that led to the unrest. These issues have far from disappeared since the incident faded from people’s Twitter feeds. The people of Ferguson still toil in the number 10 most dangerous community in Missouri. Much of the problem centers around property crime. That includes a high rate of car thefts, robberies and burglaries.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 20,454
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 689 (18th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,192 (13th most dangerous)
More on Ferguson:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Ferguson, MO

Source: Public domain

Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous cities in Missouri for 2023?

Every year the FBI release two crime datasets on cities in Missouri. First a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in Missouri, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.

For our analysis, we focused on the 2021 data, specifically the 2021 Crime In The United States Report for Missouri. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2023.

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 Missouri cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 124 cities in Missouri.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 124 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 Missouri — Springfield. Any ties went to the smaller city.

Most Dangerous Places To Live In Missouri FAQs

Yes, Missouri is a dangerous state as it ranks as the #7 most dangerous state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in missouri ranks sixth highest in the United States — 39.95% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Show Me State ranks ninth highest in the United States — 29.25% worse than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020.

Yes, Kansas City is a dangerous city. Kansas City ranks as the #21 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 Kansas City might be considered dangerous you still need to be aware of where you are. For example, Stanford Gardens is the safest in Kansas City, while South Blue Valley is considered dangerous by many based on recent crime stats.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Kansas City ranks tenth highest in America — 188.92% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 4highest in the United States — 55.12% 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.

Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Missouri

Most Dangerous Cities In Missouri Graph

Click To Enlarge

Summary: Locking It All Up In Missouri

So what is the most dangerous city in Missouri? After analyzing 124 cities in Missouri, Springfield takes the top spot as the most dangerous city in Missouri based on the most recently reported FBI data — 2021.

The latest FBI crime data shows that Springfield ranks as the most dangerous city in Missouri for 2023.

We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Springfield and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.

It’s not entirely Missouri’s fault. There are close to 6.2 million people inside this flyover state; and in our experience, there’s bound to be problems with that many people.

What’s the place that has the most problems in Missouri–the state’s most dangerous city? The most dangerous place in Missouri would be Springfield.

Take a look at the list below to see the rest of Missouri’s most dangerous places.

Learn more about the safest places in Missouri.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.

Here are the safest cities in Missouri:

  1. Savannah (Pop. 5,177)
  2. Pleasant Hill (Pop. 8,801)
  3. Raymore (Pop. 22,885)
  4. O’Fallon (Pop. 90,813)
  5. Webster Groves (Pop. 22,885)
  6. Nixa (Pop. 23,795)
  7. Ballwin (Pop. 30,061)
  8. Glendale (Pop. 5,859)
  9. Greenwood (Pop. 5,951)
  10. Cottleville (Pop. 6,333)

For more Missouri reading, check out:

Crime By City In Missouri

Rank City Population Violent Crimes Per Capita Property Crimes Per Capita
1 Springfield 168,988 1,568 6,473
2 North Kansas City 5,110 1,135 11,056
3 Nevada 8,177 1,858 5,270
4 Berkeley 8,868 1,950 5,221
5 St. Louis 295,536 1,484 5,463
6 Kennett 9,946 774 5,962
7 Kansas City 500,965 1,476 4,283
8 Sedalia 21,742 947 4,208
9 Joplin 50,970 531 6,802
10 Ferguson 20,454 689 5,192
11 Caruthersville 5,212 2,379 3,568
12 Bridgeton 11,497 582 5,723
13 Poplar Bluff 16,927 502 6,551
14 Grandview 24,898 799 4,169
15 Vinita Park 10,910 1,044 3,913
16 Branson 11,797 508 5,721
17 St. Joseph 73,821 639 4,177
18 Raytown 28,922 681 4,052
19 Richmond 5,638 780 3,777
20 Sullivan 7,118 449 5,507
21 Bellefontaine Neighbors 10,251 1,609 3,053
22 Aurora 7,422 808 3,503
23 West Plains 12,417 612 3,825
24 Sikeston 15,931 1,230 2,994
25 Richmond Heights 8,799 386 5,875
26 Kirksville 17,666 475 4,069
27 Independence 116,761 577 3,751
28 Union 12,292 463 3,921
29 Maplewood 8,076 371 4,866
30 Hazelwood 24,976 680 3,038
31 Normandy 7,385 1,069 2,491
32 Cape Girardeau 41,957 636 2,907
33 Lebanon 14,917 449 3,445
34 St. John 6,299 730 2,460
35 Hannibal 17,194 360 3,937
36 Rolla 20,519 433 3,323
37 Overland 15,449 472 2,945
38 Marshfield 7,786 398 3,287
39 Columbia 126,418 492 2,490
40 Pevely 6,042 364 3,210
41 Washington 14,270 448 2,690
42 Shrewsbury 6,046 248 4,134
43 Brentwood 7,944 226 4,405
44 Carthage 14,766 297 3,230
45 Neosho 12,143 329 2,857
46 Dexter 7,833 421 2,476
47 Farmington 18,926 221 3,994
48 Harrisonville 10,091 426 2,209
49 Warrenton 9,019 310 2,771
50 St. Ann 12,540 494 1,818

References

  • FBI UCR 2022

  • Census – American Cumminity Survey

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our tenth time ranking the most dangerous places to live in Missouri and is updated for 2023.
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.