Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Kentucky?
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 Kentucky.
The result is the Murder Capitals of the Bluegrass State for 2023:
- Shively
- Louisville Metro
- Hopkinsville
- Radcliff
- Lebanon
- Glasgow
- Paducah
- Lexington
- Richmond
- Shelbyville
What city has the highest murder rate in Kentucky? The city with the highest murder rate in Kentucky is Shively with 57.2 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Kentucky with highest number of murders? The city in Kentucky with the highest number of murders is Louisville Metro with 192 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Kentucky ranked. There were ‘only’ 29 cities in Kentucky where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 47 places had no murder.
For more reading on the Bluegrass State check out:
- Best Places To Live In Kentucky
- Cheapest Places To Live In Kentucky
- Most Dangerous Cities In Kentucky
Article Table Of Contents
The 10 Murder Capitals Of Kentucky For 2023
/10
Population: 15,732
Rank Last Year: 1
Murders: 9 (3rd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 57.2 (Most)
More on Shively: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
2. Louisville Metro
Population: 678,236
Rank Last Year: –
Murders: 192 (Most)
Murders Per 100k: 28.3 (4th Most)
More on Louisville Metro:
/10
Population: 30,787
Rank Last Year: 14
Murders: 9 (3rd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 29.2 (3rd Most)
More on Hopkinsville: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 22,957
Rank Last Year: 21
Murders: 5 (6th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 21.8 (5th Most)
More on Radcliff: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 5,751
Rank Last Year: 9
Murders: 2 (12th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 34.8 (2nd Most)
More on Lebanon: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 14,452
Rank Last Year: 38
Murders: 3 (9th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 20.8 (6th Most)
More on Glasgow: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 24,873
Rank Last Year: 4
Murders: 4 (7th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 16.1 (8th Most)
More on Paducah: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 328,965
Rank Last Year: 5
Murders: 31 (2nd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 9.4 (19th Most)
More on Lexington: Data | Crime Report
/10
Population: 37,354
Rank Last Year: 24
Murders: 4 (7th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 10.7 (15th Most)
More on Richmond: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 17,065
Rank Last Year: 32
Murders: 2 (12th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 11.7 (13th Most)
More on Shelbyville: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Kentucky
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 Kentucky for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 29 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.
This article is an opinion based on facts. It is our tenth time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Kentucky and is updated for 2023.
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Kentucky For 2023
If you’re looking at the places in Kentucky 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 Kentucky reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Kentucky
- Fastest Growing Cities In Kentucky
- Safest Places In Kentucky
- Best Cities For Singles In Kentucky
- Worst Places To Live In Kentucky
Detailed List Of The Places With The Most Murder In Kentucky For 2023
| Rank | City | Murders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shively, KY | 9 |
| 2 | Louisville Metro, KY | 192 |
| 3 | Hopkinsville, KY | 9 |
| 4 | Radcliff, KY | 5 |
| 5 | Lebanon, KY | 2 |
| 6 | Glasgow, KY | 3 |
| 7 | Paducah, KY | 4 |
| 8 | Lexington, KY | 31 |
| 9 | Richmond, KY | 4 |
| 10 | Shelbyville, KY | 2 |
| 11 | Bowling Green, KY | 6 |
| 12 | Winchester, KY | 2 |
| 13 | Williamsburg, KY | 1 |
| 14 | Ashland, KY | 2 |
| 15 | Flatwoods, KY | 1 |
| 16 | Corbin, KY | 1 |
| 17 | Oak Grove, KY | 1 |
| 18 | Morehead, KY | 1 |
| 19 | Frankfort, KY | 2 |
| 20 | Maysville, KY | 1 |
| 21 | Covington, KY | 2 |
| 22 | Mayfield, KY | 1 |
| 23 | Campbellsville, KY | 1 |
| 24 | Bardstown, KY | 1 |
| 25 | St. Matthews, KY | 1 |
| 26 | Murray, KY | 1 |
| 27 | Elizabethtown, KY | 1 |
| 28 | Florence, KY | 1 |
| 29 | Owensboro, KY | 1 |
Your data is incorrect, Louisville had 90 murders in 2019, and has had more than 100, several times in the past decade.
Very few murders get reported to the FBI, this is skewed.
Ranking murder rates this way is very skewed. That is like saying N.Y.C.is less dangerous than Williamsburg KY because there is a larger percentage of the population that was murdered even though the number of people murdered in Williamsburg KY doesn’t come close to the number of people murdered in New York City.
Louisville is the biggest city in Kentucky and has had 79 murdered this year.