Louisianans would like to think that the only danger lurking in their state is the defensive line on the New Orleans Saints and running out of gas while hunting alligators in Shreveport; but sadly, that’s not the case.
Unfortunately, there is danger lurking in every corner of the places that made HomeSnacks’ list of the top ten most dangerous cities in the Bayou State for 2020. We’re pretty sure this came as no surprise as Louisiana is the third most dangerous state in the country.
How’d we determine the most dangerous places in Louisiana? We consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 55 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.
Let’s be real, we’re not talking about driving five mph over the speed limit kind of danger. The type of danger we’re talking about gets people on Alexandria’s KALB at six. 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.
To see where these Louisiana cities with more issues than Monroe’s newspaper are located, take a look below.
It’s not entirely Louisiana’s fault. There are close to 4.7 million people inside the Louisiana boot; and in our experience, there’s bound to be problems with that many people.
But, what are the circumstances that make these Louisiana cities this way? Maybe not enough jobs, low wages, drugs, gangs, close to larger cities that push their problems onto surrounding cities; we’re not entirely sure. But one thing we are sure about is our number one most dangerous city in Louisiana is Hammond.
The Louisiana places on our most dangerous list could definitely use some TLC. If you’re looking to be that diamond in the ruff, 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.
Learn more about the safest places in Louisiana.
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 Louisiana reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Louisiana
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Louisiana
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Louisiana
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Louisiana
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Louisiana For 2020
It seems like the far eastern side of the state of Louisiana is where criminals hang out the most. At least those who prey on smaller towns.
Here in Hammond, you’ve got the 1st best chance statistically to be robbed on any given day. If you’re within Hammond’s city limits for a year’s time, there’s a 1 in 8.5 chance you’ll encounter a criminal who wants to take something from you.
Hammond is right off of I-20. Crime here has ticked downwards over the last few years, but you’re in no way safe here.
Even though Hammond isn’t as small a town as when we moved up here from River Ridge in 87, I think it’s still a great town that still had a bit of the small town feel to it. The people for the most part are courteous to each other and do try to look out for each other.
Good- still has a small town vibe. Bad- traffic can be heavy at times. I don’t think the roads can match the increased traffic.
Opelousas is the 3rd oldest city in Louisiana, and one that was known as a haven for gambling and prostitution. It seems as if the people there are having a hard time moving away from those sorts of criminal activities, as every year, you have a 1 in 46 chance of being the victim of a rape, attack or outright killed when you’re within the city limits.
Legendary adventurer Jim Bowie grew up here. They need some more of his spunk around here to put the criminals in their place.
Opelousas is just north of Lafayette off of I-49. It’s beginning to sound like it’s pretty scary to travel north-south on this stretch of road. It’s no wonder the population here has plummeted 23% in the last 10 years.
If you live in Alexandria, you already know know to avoid the city’s northeast side. But did you know you have a 1 in 68 chance of being raped, attacked or outright killed every year? Those are the stats. And it’s getting worse there by the year.
Plus, 1 in 11.9 people has their lives screwed up due to a property crime of some sort. Odds are if you’ve lived in Alexandria for a long time, you’ve been robbed at least one time in your life.
Alexandria is smack dab in the middle of Louisiana off of I-49.
I live in Alexandria, and it’s much more boring than those places because there are hotels everywhere, but no attractions. And, given that, THOSE places are much more interesting than that of Alexandria.
AL is so… dystopian.
Go downtown and you will find some futureless drughead any 3 blocks you move.
Bastrop is another city in the Louisiana panhandle that you’re simply not safe in.
If you’re within Bastrop city limits, you have a 1 in 74 chance of having your life threatened every year. Additionally, you have a 1 in 10.2 chance of being robbed or having something you own vandalized. Scary stuff.
Or, put another way, in the safest city on our list, Addis, residents had a 1 in 693 chance of being robbed. That’s the way it should be.
I agree I live in Bastrop and I will admit that the town has gone down a little since the mill closed but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as he is making it out to be
/10
Population: 5,450
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 5)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,944 (2nd most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 7,247 (7th most dangerous)
More on Marksville: Data
Marksville is the smallest city to make this list.
Violent crime rose between 2015-17, leaving residents a 1 in 51 chance of being the victim of violence in 2017 (a rate that would earn a top 10 spot in most states).
Marksville’s already horrible property crime statistics also got worse in these years, going up between 2015-17.
Crowley ranks relatively poorly in both categories of crime in Louisiana.
That left Crowley’s residents with a 1 in 56 shot of being the victim of violence in 2017. Additionally, it ranked 8th for property crime.
Monroe, in the eastern part of the state, is the largest city to make the top of this list, meaning it has the most criminals per capita prowling the streets of Louisiana. Outright poverty might play into this ranking, as nearly a third of the residents here live below the poverty line.
Or, perhaps it’s due to its location, since it is a major stop heading east-west on I-20.
You’ve got a 1 in 14.7 chance of being robbed here every year. Additionally, Monroe saw 4 murders in 2017.
This article speaks the truth. Monroe is a horrible city to live in. I knew it was bad, but the highest rate of violent crimes in the country just a year ago and third this year, yikes. It seems to me to have been on a downward slide for quite a while now too. A very poor city indeed, and it shows everywhere you look. It is one of the poorest looking, eyesores I have ever seen for a town of its size, at least in the city limits. The schools could be better, but I have seen much worse in this area of the state. Thats probably one of the only things that doesnt line up with this awful place. For the highest per capita violent crime in the nation, you would think the schools would be much worse…very strange. Extreme poverty and rampant drug use are the biggest factors imo, and we have them both in spades. I would bet Monroe has some of the highest per capita users of drugs in the country as well, specifically m**h, crack, and opioids. And if you spend much time here, I hope you have a very good imagination and are easily entertained, because there is literally NOTHING TO DO…ever. I think the constant boredom that comes with a place like this is probably another driving force in the rampant criminal behavior here. I am suddenly overcome with the desire to move…
There is absolutely nothing special or memorable about this place at all. Everyone that will inevitably have some great praise to sing about anything in this town has clearly never been very far from this town. Monroe is worse than mediocrity in just about everything imaginable.
West Monroe is also the home to quite a bit of crime.
Despite the fact that violent crime and property crime dropped between 2015-17, West Monroe’s crime statistics are still pretty terrible.
In 2017, residents still faced a 1 in 122 chance of being the victim of violence, and a 1 in 1,008 chance of being the victim of a property crime for every year they spent in West Monroe city limits.
/10
Population: 6,286
Rank Last Year: 17 (Up 9)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 938 (12th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 6,872 (11th most dangerous)
More on Walker: Data
Located in the western part of the state, Louisiana’s capital, Walker, is unfortunately in the top 12th for worst violent crime and 11th worst property crime rates in the state.
While violence fell between 2015-17, property crime rose, meaning that, overall, Walker’s instances of crime have been increasing.
Residents of Walker had a 1 in 106 chance of being the victim of violence and a 1 in 14.6 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2017.
Rounding out the top 10 dangerous cities is Leesville.
Leesville has seen property crimes decrease recently, so law enforcement must be cracking down on vehicle thefts and home invasion robberies. Statistically, 1 in 98 people in Leesville were raped, attacked or murdered in 2017. Wow.
How Is Your Town In ?
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Louisiana 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 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 55 cities in Louisiana.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 55 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 Louisiana — Hammond.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Louisiana.
Locking It All Up In Louisiana
The latest FBI crime data shows that Hammond ranks as the most dangerous city in Louisiana for 2020.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Hammond 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 Louisiana:
- Harahan (Pop. 9,424)
- Youngsville (Pop. 14,370)
- Addis (Pop. 5,505)
For more Louisiana reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Louisiana
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Louisiana
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Louisiana
- 10 Safest Places In Louisiana
- 10 Worst Places To Live In Louisiana
Where Are The Most Dangerous Cities In Louisiana?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hammond | 20,550 |
| 2 | Opelousas | 16,262 |
| 3 | Alexandria | 47,238 |
| 4 | Bastrop | 10,270 |
| 5 | Marksville | 5,450 |
| 6 | Crowley | 12,779 |
| 7 | Monroe | 48,291 |
| 8 | West Monroe | 12,594 |
| 9 | Walker | 6,286 |
| 10 | Leesville | 5,999 |
This list is bogus by having Denham Springs listed to start with. Tommy Peters is correct about I-20, it’s in the northern part of the state, from Shreveport to Vicksburg, MS. Not enough research done for this.
I am appalled at the fact that this report list Amite as the number one dangerous city. Obviously you have your facts wrong. I am sure that I people who lived there are offended that this report has put a negative spend on the city in which they live and love. As a native of that town I am offended because my family and friends still live there and I love going back for vacation.
Yes the city need some economic recovery,but Amite does not deserve this negative publicity.
I respectfully ask the editor and publisher of this article to retract this story and stop the publishing of this shred information.
I don’t know about these other cities but I completely agree about Alexandria and I really thought it would have been higher on the list. My city has gotten so bad. Within the past months we have had so many people get shot and killed and females found dead.
Alexandria and the other cities, especially Nactitoches are mostly black, reckon that has anything to do with it?
Garbage check your facts you obviously have never been to louisiana or any of these towns this list is a joke.
To blame race for the crime rate and not poverty is so bigoted. As an upwardly mobile professional African American who lives in Louisiana, it saddens me that we are all lumped into the same pot. Some of these comments sicken me. Last I checked, criminals come in a myriad of colors.
Bologna……Its true and you know it…..blacks commit 4-1 more crimes than any other race…truth is truth…Get real buddy
I don’t know where you are getting your facts from, but they are blatently wrong. Let’s start with Hammond not being off of I-20. It is off of I-12 and I-55. I-20, at it’s nearest is 2 1/2 hours away, in Mississippi. Hammond and Ponchatoula are not more dangerous than New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Being that I live in Hammond, my shop is in Ponchatoula, and have been working all over the state for the last 20 years, I can tell that you are pulling facts out of thin air. I also happen to be born in New Orleans. I live in Hammond/Ponchatoula (5 minutes apart, since you have no real spectrum of the area) because they are safer than New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and a few others on your list. Stop pushing crap facts.
Put Houma in there to
Whoever wrote this is a complete idiot!!! Slidell, La and Mandeville, La, are not redneck you idiot!!! You must also think everybody in Louisiana, has an alligator as a pet and that we walk them on a leash!!! Not everybody yells “Shoot em, Shoot em!!!!!!!” Big dummy!!