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:
- Best Places To Live In Louisiana
- Best Counties To Live In Louisiana
- 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 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.
/10
Population: 5,450
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,944 (2nd most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 7,247 (7th most dangerous)
More on Marksville: Data
Unlike some of the other cities on this list, Marksville has been working towards reducing the rate of violent crime, with impressive results.
Marksville experienced a drop in violent crime between 2017-2018, which is cause for celebration, unlike the increase in property crime.
Residents of Marksville has a 1 in 13.8 chance of being the victim of theft or arson in 2018.
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
Crowley has the smallest population of any city on our list of the most dangerous in Louisiana.
The Crowley saw a total of 916 property crimes in 2018, which calculates out to a 1 in 14.0 chance of being a victim of theft.
Crowley ranked 3rd for violent 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 2018.
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. That’s probably one of the only things that doesn’t 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.
/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
Walker is the 8th most dangerous city in Louisiana.
From 2017-2018, violent crime went up by 25%, leaving residents with about a 1 in 106 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2018.
West Monroe is the 9th most dangerous city in Louisiana.
There’s a 1 in 12.5 chance of being the victim of theft or arson — pretty darn high — and those numbers have remained consistently high in recent years.
West Monroe is located in Ouachita Parish.
Leesville makes it into the top 10 most dangerous in Louisiana. After a huge growth spurt in the 60’s and 70’s, people are actually leaving Leesville in droves, which could be in part to its high criminal population.
As of the last FBI report, crime in Leesville has been ticking upwards, and statistically, 1 in 16.0 residents here was recently the victim of a robbery or car theft.
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 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 Louisiana 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. 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 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:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Louisiana
- Best Places To Retire In Louisiana
- Richest Cities In Louisiana
- Safest Places In Louisiana
- 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 | Marksville | 5,450 |
| 5 | Bastrop | 10,270 |
| 6 | Crowley | 12,779 |
| 7 | Monroe | 48,291 |
| 8 | Walker | 6,286 |
| 9 | West Monroe | 12,594 |
| 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!!
I thought I would make a correction to one of the statements about Hammond, it’s several hours away from I-20 since I-20 is in North Louisiana. Hammond is near I-55 that runs north to south, I-55 ends when it meets I-10 at LaPlace. I’m surprised that Bogalusa isn’t higher on the list considering all the drugs that around that town and the crimes that addicts do to get their fix. When I go to Bogalusa, I’m armed just to protect myself bc you can’t trust anyone there especially if they look like they have been awake for a week and their eyes are as big as saucers or the other group that wear long sleeves in the summer to cover up the track marks.
Adam, I totally agree with you. I don’t know who paid these ppl to write this article. I live about 30 mins north of Hammond and it’s way safer than Bogalusa. I don’t know how Hammond and Toula ended up being on this list, I think it’s complete bs especially when they don’t even know what interstate Hammond is near. When I actually watch the news, you hear about multiple murders, robberies, rapes and carjacking everyday so seems like New Orleans would be number 1