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.
Here are the 10 most dangerous cities in Mississippi for 2020:
- Pascagoula (Photos)
- Jackson (Photos)
- Vicksburg (Photos)
- Gulfport (Photos)
- Laurel (Photos)
- Biloxi (Photos)
- Brookhaven (Photos)
- Meridian (Photos)
- D’Iberville (Photos)
- Batesville (Photos)
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:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Mississippi
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Mississippi
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Mississippi
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places 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.
I used to live in Pascagoula, didn’t know that much bad stuff happened in there..
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.
I love Jackson, MS I was born and raised here. I love how you cant even walk down the streets because Jamal or Tyrone might have had a bad day and decide he wants to end your life. I also like all of the homeless harassing me for money and urinating in front of my family and I. The city government is also a haram of idiots pretending to be competent leaders who cant even maintain roads and water lines. I also love how you cant even go to a decently priced restaurant without hearing Tyrone and Shanequa having a screaming match or just screaming for fun. If you have to move here I advise a trip to a gun store. Its a great place, everyone should move here.
My favorite place is when I leave on vacation to somewhere out side of the ghetto
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.
As a one-time resident of Vicksburg, it was a quaint, quiet town rich in culture…and crime was present, yet I just feel you missed again.
Gulfport placed 4th in our ranking of the most dangerous cities in the Magnolia State.
This city’s violence now stands at a 1 in 187 chance of being the victim of a violent crime. That compares to a 1 in 19.8 chance of being the victim of property crime. That’s pretty bad for a city of about 72,402 people.
Laurel is the 3rd most violent city, with residents facing a 1 in 179 chance of being the victim of violence in 2018.
Progress has been made in recent years, however, reflected by a 12% drop in violent crime, and an 11% drop in property crime between 2017-2018.
Biloxi ranks as the 6th most dangerous city in Mississippi.
The sheer volume of people passing through Biloxi probably contributes to the high occurrence of violent crime within the city. There were 149 violent crimes in 2018.
Crime rates are horrible and there is always a shooting, stabbing or etc that happens almost daily. The schools are usually crammed pack and the teachers do not watch for our kids when it comes to bullies. Kids have taken their own lives due to this nonsense.
Things I enjoyed were activities: Casinos, restaurants, pool halls, kids learning centers. But the traffic and people in the area are horrible and rude.
Brookhaven is the 7th most violent city in the state.
Both categories of crime have been going up between 2017-2018.
Folks in Brookhaven have about 1 violent crime per 130 residents.
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.
D’Iberville makes it into the top 10 most dangerous in Mississippi. After a huge growth spurt in the 60’s and 70’s, people are actually leaving D’Iberville in droves, which could be in part to its high criminal population.
As of the last FBI report, crime in D’Iberville has been ticking upwards, and statistically, 1 in 14.4 residents here was recently the victim of a robbery or car theft.
Batesville’s violent crime looks to be an issue.
Violent crime went to 17 occurrences between 2017-2018, leaving residents with a 1 in 424 chance of being the victim of violence in 2018.
Though Batesville is the 12th most violent city in Mississippi overall, it does only have the 9th most property crime on this list (which still leaves residents a 1 in 22.5 chance of being robbed each year).
How Is Your Town In ?
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 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:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Mississippi
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Mississippi
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Mississippi
- 10 Safest Places In Mississippi
- 10 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”.