If you’ve ever been on Eureka St. in Batesville or North St. in Brookhaven, you know that Mississippi can be pretty dangerous.
But just how dangerous? Well, you’re in luck, RoadSnacks knows the answer to that question. Yes, we’ve taken the guessing out of the equation and created a list of the most dangerous places in Mississipi for 2020. You know, the kind of places where your southern charm will get you nowhere.
How’d we do it? We consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 26 cities. We looked at the FBI’s latest crime report for violent crime and property crime statistics for every place with over 6,000 residents. We discovered that Mississippi is slightly above the national average in terms of property crime and comparable to the national average for violent crime. And, shockingly, the city with the most assaults and murders in the state has less than 16,000 residents.
What’s even crazier is that Mississippi had 285 violent crimes and 2,733 property crimes and managed to stay out of the top ten most dangerous states in the country for 2020. Not to mention, not one of The Magnolia State’s cities made the top ten most dangerous cities in the country for 2020. But, folks, this doesn’t mean that Mississippi’s most dangerous places couldn’t use better employment opportunities, higher wages, and strong rehabilitation programs to combat their growing crime rates.
So, want to know the places in Mississippi that could use a hug? Keep reading.
The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Mississippi For 2020
Yes, there are about 262 police officers per 100,000 residents in Minnesota, but they just can’t be everywhere. So, smaller Mississippi cities like McComb and Greenwood are starting to suffer the consequences. And these are not even Mississippi’s most dangerous places.
The place that is the most dangerous in Mississippi? The most dangerous place in Mississippi would be Pascagoula based on FBI data.
To see how your city faired, take a look at the list below; and if you don’t find what you’re looking for there, head to the bottom.
Learn more about the safest places in Mississippi.
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 Mississippi reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Mississippi
- Best Counties To Live In Mississippi
- Cheapest Places To Live In Mississippi
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Mississippi For 2020
Located in the southeastern corner of the state, Pascagoula is the most dangerous city in Mississippi.
Its high ranking has a lot to do with a 76% hike in violent crime between 2017-2018, which, to be fair, still left Pascagoula with less violent crime than Jackson.
In any case, property crime statistics have remained relatively high, with residents facing a 1 in 16.3 chance of being the victim of theft or arson every year.
Unfortunately, Mississippi’s capital and largest city, Jackson, finishes 2nd on the list of most dangerous cities in the state.
And from recent trends, Jackson has shown no indication of giving up its spot as the most violent city in Mississippi; its violent crime numbers remained high from 2017-2018.
That left Jackson residents with a 1 in 144 chance of being the victim of violence each year. but hey, at least property crime only ranks 7th worst in the Magnolia State.
Located on the Louisiana border, east of the Mississippi River, Vicksburg is the 3rd most dangerous city in Mississippi.
The good news is that violent crime dropped between 2017-2018.
For perspective, Vicksburg’s 2017 crime statistics would have ranked the city 4th in violent crime, and 2nd in property crime.
The 2nd most populated city in the state, Gulfport is the center of quite a bit of crime, but at least Gulfportns are working on fixing it — violent crime was reduced by 4% between 2017-2018, and property crime by 5%.
Still, residents had around a 1 in 187 chance of being the victim of violence and about a 1 in 19.8 chance of being the victim of theft or arson in 2018.
Though there has been a modest drop in violent crimes, the alarming increase in property crime from 2017-2018 indicates that Laurel isn’t satisfied with being at the bottom of this list.
Laurel residents had a 1 in 179 chance of a violent crime, while having a 1 in 21.2 chance of a property crime, 3rd and 8th in the state, respectively.
The 5th most populated city in the state, Biloxi is the center of quite a bit of crime, but at least Biloxins are working on fixing it — violent crime was reduced by 4% between 2017-2018, and property crime by 5%.
Still, residents had around a 1 in 309 chance of being the victim of violence and about a 1 in 17.9 chance of being the victim of theft or arson in 2018.
Brookhaven is the 18th largest and 7th most dangerous city in Mississippi.
Residents have a 1 in 35.0 chance of being the victim of a property crime each year, and chances of a violent crime now stand at 1 in 130, making Brookhaven quite a dangerous place to be.
Meridian, located in the central-eastern part of the state about 90 miles east of Jackson, is the 8th most dangerous and 6th most violent city in Mississippi.
Violent crime has remained high from 2017-2018, during which time property crime fell by only small amounts.
Located in the southeastern corner of the state, on the Atlantic coast, D’Iberville ranks 9th for its danger.
In 2011, D’Iberville wouldn’t have made this list, but a whopping increase in violent crime between 2017-2018 changed that.
In 2018, residents faced a 1 in 795 chance of being the victim of violence, which would put D’Iberville at 17th for the year in Mississippi.
Batesville has seen modest improvements in its crime rate of late.
Violent crime went down and property crime went down between 2017-2018.
At this rate, Batesville should be replaced by another city in Mississippi in a few years time.
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Mississippi
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Mississippi for 2020?
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 2018 data, specifically the 2018 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2020.
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 Mississippi cities over 6,000 in population. That left us with 26 cities in Mississippi.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 26 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 Mississippi — Pascagoula. Any ties went to the smaller city. You can download the data here.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Mississippi.
Locking It All Up In Mississippi
The latest FBI crime data shows that Pascagoula ranks as the most dangerous city in Mississippi for 2020.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Pascagoula 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 Mississippi:
- Clinton (Pop. 25,137)
- Madison (Pop. 25,832)
- Petal (Pop. 10,656)
For more Mississippi reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Mississippi
- Best Places To Retire In Mississippi
- Richest Cities In Mississippi
- Safest Places In Mississippi
- Worst Places To Live In Mississippi
Where Are The Most Dangerous Cities In Mississippi?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pascagoula | 21,654 |
| 2 | Jackson | 166,024 |
| 3 | Vicksburg | 22,298 |
| 4 | Gulfport | 72,402 |
| 5 | Laurel | 18,486 |
| 6 | Biloxi | 46,148 |
| 7 | Brookhaven | 12,125 |
| 8 | Meridian | 37,500 |
| 9 | D’Iberville | 11,928 |
| 10 | Batesville | 7,212 |
After studying these statistics, and knowing both McComb and Jackson, I will still take my chances in McComb rather than Jackson. I dread the thought of even driving through Jackson on either I-55 or I-20. I get through that city as quickly as possible. I loved for 8 years in Jackson from 1972-1980. It was dangerous enough back then, but nothing compared to today.
Apparently the people who wrote this article don’t know the difference between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Given that, I doubt the reliability of anything they publish.
I used to live in Pascagoula, didn’t know that much bad stuff happened in there..
Why is Columbus MS not mentioned?
My family has lived in Batesville since the 1850s on Eureka Street that you mention. Never in my almost 70 years nor do I recall my ancestors ever stating that they felt in danger. Not then & not now. Batesville has it’s issues as does everywhere these days, but not to the point that crime is “rampant”.