The Murder Capitals Of Virginia For 2022


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

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

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 Virginia.

The result is the Murder Capitals of the Old Dominion for 2022:

  1. Richmond (Photos)
  2. Portsmouth (Photos)
  3. Petersburg (Photos)
  4. Norfolk (Photos)
  5. Hopewell (Photos)
  6. Hampton (Photos)
  7. Newport News (Photos)
  8. Roanoke (Photos)
  9. Emporia (Photos)
  10. Franklin (Photos)

The city with highest murder rate in Virginia? That would be Petersburg with 76.9 murders per 100,000 people.

While the city with highest number of murders period? Richmond with 66.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. There were 'only' 35 cities in Virginia where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 27 places had no murder.

For more reading on the Old Dominion check out:

The 10 Murder Capitals Of Virginia For 2022

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 233,350
Rank Last Year: 7
Murders: 66 (Most)
Murders Per 100k: 28.3 (4th Most)
More on Richmond:  Data | Photos

Richmond, VA

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 94,205
Rank Last Year: 1
Murders: 34 (3rd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 36.1 (3rd Most)
More on Portsmouth:  Data | Photos

Portsmouth, VA

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 31,195
Rank Last Year: 3
Murders: 24 (5th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 76.9 (Most)
More on Petersburg:  Data | Photos

Petersburg, VA

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 242,516
Rank Last Year: 5
Murders: 49 (2nd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 20.2 (7th Most)
More on Norfolk:  Data | Photos

Norfolk, VA

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 22,498
Rank Last Year: 24
Murders: 6 (10th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 26.7 (5th Most)
More on Hopewell:  Data | Photos

Hopewell, VA

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 134,082
Rank Last Year: 15
Murders: 24 (5th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 17.9 (11th Most)
More on Hampton:  Data | Photos

Hampton, VA

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 178,896
Rank Last Year: 10
Murders: 25 (4th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 14.0 (14th Most)
More on Newport News:  Data | Photos

Newport News, VA

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 99,335
Rank Last Year: 8
Murders: 15 (8th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 15.1 (13th Most)
More on Roanoke:  Data | Photos

Roanoke, VA

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,282
Rank Last Year: 17
Murders: 2 (20th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 37.9 (2nd Most)
More on Emporia:  Data | Photos

Emporia, VA

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,896
Rank Last Year: 23
Murders: 2 (20th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 25.3 (6th Most)
More on Franklin:  Data | Photos

Franklin, VA

How we calculated the murder capitals of Virginia

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 Virginia for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 35 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 Virginia For 2022

If you're looking at the places in Virginia 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 Virginia reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Places With The Most Murder In Virginia For 2022

Rank City Murders Murders/100K
1 Richmond, VA 66 28.28
2 Portsmouth, VA 34 36.09
3 Petersburg, VA 24 76.94
4 Norfolk, VA 49 20.2
5 Hopewell, VA 6 26.67
6 Hampton, VA 24 17.9
7 Newport News, VA 25 13.97
8 Roanoke, VA 15 15.1
9 Emporia, VA 2 37.86
10 Franklin, VA 2 25.33
11 Danville, VA 5 12.59
12 Warrenton, VA 2 19.86
13 Charlottesville, VA 5 10.49
14 Chesapeake, VA 15 6.07
15 Fredericksburg, VA 3 10.14
16 Virginia Beach, VA 17 3.77
17 Culpeper, VA 2 10.45
18 Big Stone Gap, VA 1 19.69
19 Covington, VA 1 18.21
20 Waynesboro, VA 2 8.77
21 Bedford, VA 1 15.15
22 Staunton, VA 2 7.98
23 Winchester, VA 2 7.07
24 Lynchburg, VA 3 3.62
25 South Boston, VA 1 13.28
26 Suffolk, VA 3 3.23
27 Alexandria, VA 3 1.86
28 Martinsville, VA 1 8.05
29 Falls Church, VA 1 6.72
30 Radford, VA 1 5.42
31 Herndon, VA 1 4.04
32 Salem, VA 1 3.95
33 Manassas, VA 1 2.42
34 Harrisonburg, VA 1 1.87
35 Leesburg, VA 1 1.82

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our ninth time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Virginia and is updated for 2022.
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.