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.
The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Louisiana For 2020
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
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.
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.
/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
Marksville, a smaller town with almost 5,450 residents, is, according to the FBI, a very dangerous place.
There were more than 106 violent crimes here in 2018, meaning that 1 in 51 residents was the victim of a serious attack. Crime seems to be ticking up here as well, as violent crimes have gone up 10% since 2017.
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.
Crowley has seen a rapid rise in its violent crime in recent years.
Between 2017-2018, the rate of violent crime increased a staggering amount, leaving Crowley residents a 1 in 56 chance of being the victim of rape, murder, or assault in 2018.
Property crime also went up during this interval, but that’s a lot less scary than the boom in violence.
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.
/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 has seen a rapid rise in its violent crime in recent years.
Between 2017-2018, the rate of violent crime increased a staggering amount, leaving Walker residents a 1 in 106 chance of being the victim of rape, murder, or assault in 2018.
Property crime also went up during this interval, but that’s a lot less scary than the boom in violence.
West Monroe has more problems — namely crime. It’s the 9th most dangerous city in Louisiana.
Statistically, 1 in 122 people in West Monroe was the victim of a rape, attack or outright killed in 2018. That’s a really large number.
And that’s just residents who actually reported a crime. Chances are it was even higher than that.
Leesville placed 10th on our list due, in part, to a 1 in 16.0 chance of being the victim of a property crime.
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Louisiana
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