Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Oregon?
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 Oregon.
What city has the highest murder rate in Oregon? The city with the highest murder rate in Oregon is Monmouth with 18.6 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Oregon with highest number of murders? The city in Oregon with the highest number of murders is Portland with 83 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Oregon ranked. There were ‘only’ 25 cities in Oregon where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 45 places had no murder.
For more reading on the Beaver State check out:
Article Table Of Contents
The 10 Murder Capitals Of Oregon For 2023
/10
Population: 664,350
Rank Last Year: 2
Murders: 83 (Most)
Murders Per 100k: 12.5 (6th Most)
More on Portland: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 110,448
Rank Last Year: 4
Murders: 14 (2nd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 12.7 (5th Most)
More on Gresham: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 23,564
Rank Last Year: 31
Murders: 4 (6th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 17.0 (3rd Most)
More on Roseburg: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 10,728
Rank Last Year: 46
Murders: 2 (11th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 18.6 (Most)
More on Monmouth: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
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Population: 13,241
Rank Last Year: 41
Murders: 2 (11th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 15.1 (4th Most)
More on Cornelius: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 84,297
Rank Last Year: 10
Murders: 6 (4th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 7.1 (12th Most)
More on Medford: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 56,914
Rank Last Year: 20
Murders: 4 (6th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 7.0 (13th Most)
More on Tigard: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 178,106
Rank Last Year: 16
Murders: 8 (3rd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 4.5 (18th Most)
More on Salem: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 113,053
Rank Last Year: 12
Murders: 6 (4th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 5.3 (17th Most)
More on Hillsboro: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 5,742
Rank Last Year: 65
Murders: 1 (20th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 17.4 (2nd Most)
More on Philomath: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Oregon
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 Oregon for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 25 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 Oregon and is updated for 2023.
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Oregon For 2023
If you’re looking at the places in Oregon 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 Oregon reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Oregon
- Fastest Growing Cities In Oregon
- Safest Places In Oregon
- Best Cities For Singles In Oregon
- Worst Places To Live In Oregon
Detailed List Of The Places With The Most Murder In Oregon For 2023
| Rank | City | Murders |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland, OR | 83 |
| 2 | Gresham, OR | 14 |
| 3 | Roseburg, OR | 4 |
| 4 | Monmouth, OR | 2 |
| 5 | Cornelius, OR | 2 |
| 6 | Medford, OR | 6 |
| 7 | Tigard, OR | 4 |
| 8 | Salem, OR | 8 |
| 9 | Hillsboro, OR | 6 |
| 10 | Philomath, OR | 1 |
| 11 | Klamath Falls, OR | 2 |
| 12 | Stayton, OR | 1 |
| 13 | North Bend, OR | 1 |
| 14 | Cottage Grove, OR | 1 |
| 15 | Ontario, OR | 1 |
| 16 | Albany, OR | 2 |
| 17 | Springfield, OR | 2 |
| 18 | Eugene, OR | 3 |
| 19 | Pendleton, OR | 1 |
| 20 | Bend, OR | 2 |
| 21 | Lebanon, OR | 1 |
| 22 | Hermiston, OR | 1 |
| 23 | Redmond, OR | 1 |
| 24 | Grants Pass, OR | 1 |
| 25 | Beaverton, OR | 1 |
Wildly inaccurate. Your premise of the”most dangerous” city by murders per capita is simply silly or lazy. Look at Tillamook. You rated it at #4. And yet if you were to look at the periods between 2002 and 2016 you would find zero (0, nil, zilch) murders. That gives you a total number of murders over a 17 year span(1 in 2017) of 1. meanwhile Portland has had 327 murders over the same period. This tells us the single murder in Tillamook was an outlyer, while Portland shows a pattern of murder. You need to include the city’s history in your calculations.