Do you live in one of the most dangerous cities in Virginia?
We all watch the news and see reports on Facebook of the latest crimes that happen in our hometowns. But it can be hard to tell at a big picture level how dangerous our town actually is.
No one wants to feel unsafe, and statistically speaking, odds are that where you live is most likely relatively safe. In order to help the good people of Virginia — and anyone looking to move to Virginia — know just how close they are to danger, we took data from the annual FBI report and did some serious analysis.
The data shows that these ten cities are currently the most dangerous in the Old Dominion:
- Portsmouth (Photos)
- Marion (Photos)
- Emporia (Photos)
- Danville (Photos)
- Norfolk (Photos)
- South Boston (Photos)
- Petersburg (Photos)
- Roanoke (Photos)
- Colonial Heights (Photos)
- Newport News (Photos)
Why did Portsmouth take the top spot? For the answer to this question and a detailed explanation of the data and analysis we used in creating this ranking, read on. Or learn more about the safest places in Virginia.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Virginia for 2018?
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 2016 data, specifically the 2016 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available for 2017 in October 2018.
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 62 cities in Virginia.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 62 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 Virginia — Portsmouth. Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Virginia.
Here’s a visualization of the criteria:
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Virginia.
1. Portsmouth
Population: 95,813Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 791
Property Crimes Per 100k: 5,607
Home to a large navy facility and, it’s name sake, a large port, these institutions may contribute to the to large incidence of crime in Portsmouth.
Portsmouth ranked 2nd in violent crimes and 1st in property crimes. Residents had about a 1 in 17.8 chance of being a victim of a property crime.
2. Marion
Population: 5,956Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 10)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 772
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,382
Located in Smyth County, Marion hasn’t experienced much of a change in its crime statistics recently.
Its relatively poor violent crime statistics went up between 2014-16, while property crime fell by a very small amount to 261 occurrences.
3. Emporia
Population: 5,382Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 631
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,886
While Emporia is a known speed trap with rigorous enforcement of speeding laws, it is also a relative hot bed for the occurrence of crime.
As the FBI aggregates crime data based on reporting from local municipalities, it wouldn’t surprise us if Emporia ranks highly simply because the police department does an excellent job of reporting crimes that occur within its city limits.
Emporia has the 6th most violent crimes in Virginia.
4. Danville
Population: 41,686Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 803
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,667
The largest city in Danville city, Danville has experienced a 13% increase in its violent crime rate and a 19% rise in property crime rate between 2014-16.
Folks in Danville had about a 1 in 27.3 chance of being robbed or burnt in 2016, which is just the heavy price you pay for living in Danville.
5. Norfolk
Population: 245,734Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 657
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,913
Kind of like a semi, underachieving older brother, Norfolk has slightly less violent crime per person and substantially less property crime per person.
Again, the large incidence of crime in this city can probably be attributed to the outsize number of people coming through the port. And, like all cities, there are rougher sections and nicer sections.
6. South Boston
Population: 7,944Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 465
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,965
South Boston placed 6th on our list due, in part, to a 1 in 25.2 chance of being the victim of a property crime.
The main attraction in the town is the South Boston Speedway and it’s not too far of a stretch to think that the visitors for races contribute to the crime rate in the city more so than the full time residents.
7. Petersburg
Population: 32,293Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 740
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,319
Petersburg is an important transportation hub in the state of Virginia. It houses both CSX and NX rail systems, in addition to being a stop for Amtrak. There are also a plethora of major interstate highways that run through the city.
The sheer volume of people passing through Petersburg probably contributes to the high occurrence of violent crime within the city. There were 239 violent crimes in 2016.
8. Roanoke
Population: 99,978Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 8)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 413
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,195
Coming in at number 8 on our list of most dangerous places in Virginia, residents of Roanoke had a 1 in 21.7 chance of being the victim of a crime.
Acting as a commercial hub for Southwest Virginia, the freight rail industry is a major component of Roanoke’s economy. This industry may also contribute to the higher than average crime rate of the city.
9. Colonial Heights
Population: 17,814Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 6)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 325
Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,580
Colonial Heights is the most populous city in Colonial Heights city.
Colonial Heights experienced a massive rise in violent crime between 2014-16.
Property crime statistics, meanwhile, remained stagnant, with residents facing a 1 in 21.8 chance of being the victim of theft or arson each year — the 4th highest rate in the state.
10. Newport News
Population: 181,676Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 4)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 466
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,070
Newport News took the 10th spot on our.
While violent crime isn’t so much of an issue (it ranks 9th out of 62), property crime seems to be pretty prevalent as it ranks 16th overall in that category.
Newport News has a relatively high population density, which might contribute to the above average property crime rate.
Locking It All Up In Virginia
The latest FBI crime data shows that Portsmouth ranks as the most dangerous city in Virginia for 2018.
However, there will be new data coming out later this year. At that point we can revisit Portsmouth’s status — that is if they haven’t beaten us all up already.
If you’re curious enough, here are the safest cities in Virginia:
- Bridgewater
- Purcellville
- Buena Vista
For more Virginia reading , check out:
- These 10 Virginia Cities Are Happier Than You Are.
- 10 Small Towns In Virginia Where You’d Never Want To Live
- These Are The 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Virginia
Detailed List Of The Most Dangeroues Cities In Virginia
| City | Rank | Previous Rank | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 1 | 1 | 95,813 |
| Marion | 2 | 12 | 5,956 |
| Emporia | 3 | 2 | 5,382 |
| Danville | 4 | 4 | 41,686 |
| Norfolk | 5 | 8 | 245,734 |
| South Boston | 6 | 6 | 7,944 |
| Petersburg | 7 | 10 | 32,293 |
| Roanoke | 8 | 16 | 99,978 |
| Colonial Heights | 9 | 15 | 17,814 |
| Newport News | 10 | 14 | 181,676 |
| Fredericksburg | 11 | 9 | 28,823 |
| Hopewell | 12 | 19 | 22,204 |
| Bluefield | 13 | 21 | 5,247 |
| Hampton | 14 | 20 | 135,504 |
| Charlottesville | 15 | 22 | 46,979 |
| Franklin | 16 | 5 | 8,423 |
| Galax | 17 | 13 | 6,858 |
| Pulaski | 18 | 24 | 8,855 |
| Ashland | 19 | 11 | 7,559 |
| Chesapeake | 20 | 23 | 236,570 |
| Farmville | 21 | 28 | 8,159 |
| Bedford | 22 | 3 | 6,556 |
| Lynchburg | 23 | 29 | 80,215 |
| Winchester | 24 | 18 | 27,363 |
| Radford | 25 | 34 | 17,504 |
| Suffolk | 26 | 25 | 88,342 |
| Martinsville | 27 | 17 | 13,553 |
| Wytheville | 28 | 36 | 8,097 |
| Vinton | 29 | 32 | 8,266 |
| Bristol | 30 | 27 | 16,908 |
| Front Royal | 31 | 31 | 15,193 |
| Manassas | 32 | 40 | 42,267 |
| Waynesboro | 33 | 30 | 21,464 |
| Culpeper | 34 | 45 | 17,733 |
| Woodstock | 35 | 41 | 5,277 |
| Christiansburg | 36 | 43 | 22,134 |
| Harrisonburg | 37 | 33 | 52,972 |
| Big Stone Gap | 38 | 26 | 5,378 |
| Staunton | 39 | 47 | 24,399 |
| Virginia Beach | 40 | 44 | 453,017 |
| Leesburg | 41 | 49 | 53,016 |
| Alexandria | 42 | 39 | 155,319 |
| Abingdon | 43 | 48 | 8,105 |
| Herndon | 44 | – | 24,806 |
| Falls Church | 45 | 50 | 14,124 |
| Covington | 46 | 37 | 5,570 |
| Richlands | 47 | 35 | 5,443 |
| Warrenton | 48 | 38 | 9,953 |
| Williamsburg | 49 | 55 | 15,256 |
| Salem | 50 | 52 | 25,396 |
| Poquoson | 51 | 53 | 11,975 |
| Strasburg | 52 | 51 | 6,622 |
| Fairfax City | 53 | 46 | 24,173 |
| Smithfield | 54 | 42 | 8,418 |
| Manassas Park | 55 | 54 | 15,912 |
| Lexington | 56 | 57 | 7,264 |
| Blacksburg | 57 | – | 44,528 |
| Vienna | 58 | 59 | 16,679 |
| Dumfries | 59 | 56 | 5,263 |
| Buena Vista | 60 | 58 | 6,576 |
| Purcellville | 61 | 60 | 9,547 |
| Bridgewater | 62 | 61 | 5,939 |
I think we are really not getting a apples to apples review…
Per capita…just saying
Bogus story, to say the least…
Portsmouth Is’nt That BADDD People,…. I’ve Been Here For 54yrs. Just Sayin 🙂
In my opinion it is more dangerous in Newport News than any of these cities (Norfolk resident.)
That’s the problem when you make judgements based solely on numbers with no experience in the actual area. I’m an NN resident, and I agree that we are worse then all these other cities.
Norfolk and Portsmouth???
Absolutely no surprise there.
NO WAY, should Tappahannock, Virginia be on this list. I moved to Tappahannock when I was about three years old. It is and as always been a wonderful place to live. There has never been any type of high crime of by kind there that warrants us to be on this list. We are a small town with lots of love and compassion for one another. Although I don’t live there anymore, I frequent the area often as my parents still live there. I love my hometown and am very disturbed by this report.
Where’s Newport News? XD
What do all of these cities have in common? They are all high density black communities.
Actually the majority of the towns and cities listed are not high density nor are the black communities. What they are unfortunately as a majority are rural areas that were heavily reliant on single source factories that closed. Thereby destroying their local economies. Whether it was Dan River, Uniroyal or DOD contractors, if a local economy is built on and around a specific company and it closes and there is no contingency plan this is the end result.
Appalachia, VA is the only one that is predominately Caucasian, but it’s an incredibly depressed area since Obama closed so many coal mines and mining is all they know + there is no town/city close for the people to pursue an alternative. Moreover, all they’d have to do is commit possibly two property crimes to be on the list, look at the population.
I am stunned the writer of this article would consider this place since it doesn’t even have it’s own school district/police force or anything. They share everything with Wise County.
There are two more that are about 50/50 Roanoke, and Tapahanach has about 50% people of color and 48% Caucasian and 2% Hispanic. However, you are right on target when it comes to the rest of the towns/cities. Personally, I feel he was grasping at straws when he put Appalachia and Tappahannock in the article. He felt he had to have at least two towns/cities predominately caucasian to make the article seem fairer. OBTW, the word Tappahannock is pronounced (TAPP’-ah-HANN’-ock) Tappahannock.
Richmond (I live) is 54% people of color, and the remaining towns/cities are either higher or about the same. So the person who wrote it’s not based on the racial makeup of the towns/cities is not altogether correct.
And for those of you that are offended by my comment, all I can tell you is read the statistics across the country. The crime rate among men of color is three times higher than any other race in America.
Admittedly, it could be some of the other factors in the article, but being one who’s very familiar with Richmond and Petersburg, I would have to agree more with your analysis.
The “writer” of this story desperately needs to learn when and where to use apostrophes.
in Norfolk, gunshots are so common that no one calls them in, and 24 hours a day we hear sirens up and down Little Creek rd. And really: Newport News may have snatched the Murder Capitol title from Petersburg; gang/drug violence is worse there than it is here in Norfolk. pretty spot-on article.
I live in Lynchburg actually in the city. We hear sirens every night. There are shootings and stabbings every week and Channel 13 doesn’t report any of it. Channel 7 out of Roanoke lets people know whats going on. I think Lynchburg in general needs to be better informed. There was a shooting at the hospital last night.
“Home to a large navy facility and, it’s name sake, a large port, these institutions may contribute to the to large incidence of crime.”
What exactly is meant by this ? Are you suggesting Portsmouth is a sh!thole because of the Navy and yard birds (civilian contractors)?
if you are thinking about moving or visiting Ashland, don’t. its full of herion addicts and meth heads that just want to rob you for your money. its also the drug capital of virginia and the police don’t do a fucking thing about it.
Richmond ( not counted)?
Richmond is likely #1