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Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Mississippi?
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 Mississippi.
The city with highest murder rate in Mississippi? That would be Brookhaven with 49.8 murders per 100,000 people.
While the city with highest number of murders period? Meridian with 14.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. There were 'only' 15 cities in Mississippi where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 8 places had no murder.
For more reading on the Magnolia State check out:
- Best Places To Live In Mississippi
- Cheapest Places To Live In Mississippi
- Most Dangerous Cities In Mississippi
The 10 Murder Capitals Of Mississippi For 2021
/10
Population: 11,672
Rank Last Year: 17
Murders: 2 (12th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 17.1 (5th Most)
More on Byram: Data
How we calculated the murder capitals of Mississippi
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 Mississippi for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 15 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 Mississippi For 2021
If you're looking at the places in Mississippi 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 mississippi reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Mississippi
- Fastest Growing Cities In Mississippi
- Safest Places In Mississippi
- Best Cities For Singles In Mississippi
- Worst Places To Live In Mississippi
Detailed List Of The Places With The Most Murder In Mississippi For 2021
| Rank | City | Murders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meridian, MS | 14 |
| 2 | Brookhaven, MS | 6 |
| 3 | Gulfport, MS | 12 |
| 4 | Pascagoula, MS | 4 |
| 5 | Kosciusko, MS | 3 |
| 6 | Olive Branch, MS | 4 |
| 7 | Gautier, MS | 3 |
| 8 | Southaven, MS | 5 |
| 9 | Horn Lake, MS | 3 |
| 10 | Byram, MS | 2 |
| 11 | Laurel, MS | 2 |
| 12 | Biloxi, MS | 3 |
| 13 | West Point, MS | 1 |
| 14 | Hattiesburg, MS | 2 |
| 15 | Ridgeland, MS | 1 |
Natchez, MS? With a population of 15,000 residents and 12 murders in 2018, it is leading the nation statistically at 79 murders per 100,000 residents. Murder capitol of Mississippi, The South and the United States of America.
Just curious as to how these numbers are calculated and what cities are looked at. As mentioned, Natchez, MS had 12 murders in 2018 with a population at around 14,000. Port Gibson had 11 murders by May in 2016 with a population of around 5,000…
That picture of gautier is inaccurate. Why not leave something like this to someone from Mississippi? I live in the #7 murder town, Ocean Springs. It’s basically Fallujah.
How is is Hatteisburg not on here at all?? I’ve lost count of the murders since the end of Dec. 2019 til now. Can you see how many there has been?