The Murder Capitals Of Colorado For 2021


These are the places in Colorado where people were killed most often, according to the latest FBI numbers.

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This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our seventh time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Colorado and is updated for 2021.

Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Colorado?

We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe.

So we wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the FBI crime data in order to identify the places with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita in Colorado.

The result is the Murder Capitals of the Centennial State for 2021:

  1. Denver (Photos)
  2. Canon City
  3. Commerce City (Photos)
  4. Aurora (Photos)
  5. Colorado Springs (Photos)
  6. Breckenridge (Photos)
  7. Glendale (Photos)
  8. Grand Junction (Photos)
  9. Fountain (Photos)
  10. Manitou Springs (Photos)

The city with highest murder rate in Colorado? That would be Breckenridge with 19.7 murders per 100,000 people.

While the city with highest number of murders period? Denver with 67.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. There were 'only' 28 cities in Colorado where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 35 places had no murder.

For more reading on the Centennial State check out:

The 10 Murder Capitals Of Colorado For 2021

Denver, CO

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 728,941
Rank Last Year: 6
Murders: 67 (Most)
Murders Per 100k: 9.2 (8th Most)
More on Denver:  Data | Photos

2. Canon City

Canon City, CO

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 16,793
Rank Last Year: 7
Murders: 3 (5th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 17.9 (4th Most)
More on Canon City:

Commerce City, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 60,198
Rank Last Year: 16
Murders: 5 (4th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 8.3 (9th Most)
More on Commerce City:  Data | Photos

Aurora, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 380,600
Rank Last Year: 15
Murders: 28 (2nd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 7.4 (12th Most)
More on Aurora:  Data | Photos

Colorado Springs, CO

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 479,648
Rank Last Year: 18
Murders: 23 (3rd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 4.8 (16th Most)
More on Colorado Springs:  Data | Photos

Breckenridge, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,079
Rank Last Year: -
Murders: 1 (19th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 19.7 (Most)
More on Breckenridge:  Data | Photos

Glendale, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,289
Rank Last Year: 1
Murders: 1 (19th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 18.9 (2nd Most)
More on Glendale:  Data | Photos

Grand Junction, CO

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 63,949
Rank Last Year: 11
Murders: 3 (5th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 4.7 (17th Most)
More on Grand Junction:  Data | Photos

Fountain, CO

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 31,041
Rank Last Year: 36
Murders: 2 (8th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 6.4 (14th Most)
More on Fountain:  Data | Photos

Manitou Springs, CO

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,388
Rank Last Year: 55
Murders: 1 (19th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 18.6 (3rd Most)
More on Manitou Springs:  Data | Photos

How we calculated the murder capitals of Colorado

While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we didn't want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI's Uniform Crime Report which summarizes the number of murders that may happen in each city per year.

We only looked every single city in Colorado for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 28 cities to rank.

Finally, we averaged the two scores into an index:

  • The raw number of murders in each city
  • The murders per person

We felt as if a small place with 2,500 people and two murders makes it a lot more dangerous than a city of 25,000 people with three murders. Any ties went to the larger city. You can download the data here.

We must note that this report is not an analysis of the effectiveness of local police departments. It simply states where murders occurred most frequently on an absolute and rate basis.

There You Have It - The Places With The Most Murders In Colorado For 2021

If you're looking at the places in Colorado with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve.

For more colorado reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Places With The Most Murder In Colorado For 2021

Rank City Murders Murders/100K
1 Denver, CO 67.0 9.19
2 Canon City, CO 3.0 17.86
3 Commerce City, CO 5.0 8.31
4 Aurora, CO 28.0 7.36
5 Colorado Springs, CO 23.0 4.8
6 Breckenridge, CO 1.0 19.69
7 Glendale, CO 1.0 18.91
8 Grand Junction, CO 3.0 4.69
9 Fountain, CO 2.0 6.44
10 Manitou Springs, CO 1.0 18.56
11 La Junta, CO 1.0 14.32
12 Rifle, CO 1.0 10.22
13 Alamosa, CO 1.0 9.91
14 Broomfield, CO 2.0 2.82
15 Greeley, CO 2.0 1.83
16 Fruita, CO 1.0 7.41
17 Sterling, CO 1.0 7.37
18 Westminster, CO 2.0 1.75
19 Lone Tree, CO 1.0 6.61
20 Firestone, CO 1.0 6.43
21 Englewood, CO 1.0 2.84
22 Northglenn, CO 1.0 2.54
23 Parker, CO 1.0 1.75
24 Longmont, CO 1.0 1.02
25 Boulder, CO 1.0 0.92
26 Arvada, CO 1.0 0.82
27 Thornton, CO 1.0 0.7
28 Fort Collins, CO 1.0 0.59

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.