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Safest and most dangerous states by violent crime

Maine has the lowest violent crime rate, at 93.2 per 100,000 residents in 2025, and Alaska the highest, at 729.3 per 100,000. The national rate was 327.6 per 100,000. Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting, estimated crimes, 2025.

Violent crime covers murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault known to police. The rates are FBI estimates, which fill gaps for agencies that did not report all year. For 2025, the FBI flagged its data for Florida and North Dakota as limited, so treat their positions with caution.

Data year: 2025Source released Aug. 14, 2026Last updated Oct. 23, 2026Estimated crimes 2025: violent_crime

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best.

Lowest state estimate 93.2 per 100,000 Maine
Highest state estimate 729.3 per 100,000 Alaska
Alaska: 729.3 per 100,000 New Mexico: 621.6 per 100,000 Arkansas: 531.8 per 100,000 Louisiana: 515.1 per 100,000 Tennessee: 492.3 per 100,000 Kansas: 457.2 per 100,000 California: 432.7 per 100,000 Colorado: 421.7 per 100,000 Montana: 419.1 per 100,000 Missouri: 417.8 per 100,000 Michigan: 416.2 per 100,000 Oklahoma: 407.7 per 100,000 South Carolina: 387.6 per 100,000 Nevada: 379.2 per 100,000 Arizona: 377.9 per 100,000 New York: 368.4 per 100,000 Maryland: 358.0 per 100,000 Alabama: 348.3 per 100,000 Delaware: 346.9 per 100,000 Texas: 344.9 per 100,000 North Carolina: 330.3 per 100,000 Oregon: 311.2 per 100,000 South Dakota: 307.5 per 100,000 Massachusetts: 302.7 per 100,000 Georgia: 296.9 per 100,000 Washington: 283.9 per 100,000 Ohio: 275.6 per 100,000 Florida: 260.9 per 100,000 Indiana: 254.4 per 100,000 Illinois: 251.0 per 100,000 West Virginia: 241.7 per 100,000 Wisconsin: 240.3 per 100,000 North Dakota: 238.1 per 100,000 Utah: 235.7 per 100,000 Iowa: 233.9 per 100,000 Mississippi: 226.9 per 100,000 Pennsylvania: 226.8 per 100,000 Minnesota: 223.5 per 100,000 Nebraska: 218.4 per 100,000 Idaho: 217.3 per 100,000 Vermont: 214.4 per 100,000 Kentucky: 212.1 per 100,000 Virginia: 205.9 per 100,000 Hawaii: 205.1 per 100,000 New Jersey: 193.8 per 100,000 Wyoming: 179.9 per 100,000 Rhode Island: 144.1 per 100,000 New Hampshire: 117.6 per 100,000 Connecticut: 109.6 per 100,000 Maine: 93.2 per 100,000
Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate; intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.

The 10 safest states (lowest violent crime rates)

  1. Maine: 93.2 per 100,000
  2. Connecticut: 109.6 per 100,000
  3. New Hampshire: 117.6 per 100,000
  4. Rhode Island: 144.1 per 100,000
  5. Wyoming: 179.9 per 100,000
  6. New Jersey: 193.8 per 100,000
  7. Hawaii: 205.1 per 100,000
  8. Virginia: 205.9 per 100,000
  9. Kentucky: 212.1 per 100,000
  10. Vermont: 214.4 per 100,000

The 10 most dangerous states (highest violent crime rates)

  1. Alaska: 729.3 per 100,000
  2. New Mexico: 621.6 per 100,000
  3. Arkansas: 531.8 per 100,000
  4. Louisiana: 515.1 per 100,000
  5. Tennessee: 492.3 per 100,000
  6. Kansas: 457.2 per 100,000
  7. California: 432.7 per 100,000
  8. Colorado: 421.7 per 100,000
  9. Montana: 419.1 per 100,000
  10. Missouri: 417.8 per 100,000

State distribution and comparisons

The middle of the 50-state distribution is 290.4 per 100,000: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.

Does the murder rate follow the overall violent crime rate?

These states’ ranks change the most between violent crime rate and murder rate. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

StateViolent crime rateMurder rate
Mississippi226.9 per 100,000 · #367.1 per 100,000 · #4
Montana419.1 per 100,000 · #92.6 per 100,000 · #36
Massachusetts302.7 per 100,000 · #241.4 per 100,000 · #47

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

Values over time

Annual estimates from the FBI’s 2025 release, 2022–2025. The FBI revises earlier years in each release; years before 2022 are less comparable because of the national switch to incident-based reporting (NIBRS) in 2021. Ranks are recalculated among the same 50 states for each year.

The state-by-state view

Download table

Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Violent crime rate · 2025 · Per 100,000 residents
RankState / jurisdictionValue90% margin of errorDifference from previous rank
1Alaska729.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
2New Mexico621.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
3Arkansas531.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
4Louisiana515.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
5Tennessee492.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
6Kansas457.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
7California432.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
8Colorado421.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
9Montana419.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
10Missouri417.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
11Michigan416.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
12Oklahoma407.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
13South Carolina387.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
14Nevada379.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
15Arizona377.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
16New York368.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
17Maryland358.0 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
18Alabama348.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
19Delaware346.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
20Texas344.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
21North Carolina330.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
22Oregon311.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
23South Dakota307.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
24Massachusetts302.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
25Georgia296.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
26Washington283.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
27Ohio275.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
28Florida260.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
29Indiana254.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
30Illinois251.0 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
31West Virginia241.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
32Wisconsin240.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
33North Dakota238.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
34Utah235.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
35Iowa233.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
36Mississippi226.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
37Pennsylvania226.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
38Minnesota223.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
39Nebraska218.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
40Idaho217.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
41Vermont214.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
42Kentucky212.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
43Virginia205.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
44Hawaii205.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
45New Jersey193.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
46Wyoming179.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
47Rhode Island144.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
48New Hampshire117.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
49Connecticut109.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
50Maine93.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
Ref.District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states803.0 per 100,000Not publishedReference jurisdiction

50 states plus 1 reference row.

Common questions

What is the safest state?

By violent crime, Maine, with a rate of 93.2 per 100,000 in 2025.

What is the most dangerous state?

By violent crime, Alaska, with a rate of 729.3 per 100,000. Crime is concentrated in particular places, so a state rate says little about any one town.

Do property crime and murder rank states the same way?

No. Compare the property crime and murder rate rankings.

What this ranking measures

Violent crimes known to police per 100,000 residents in 2025: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Counts crimes reported to police, not all crimes committed. A state rate averages very different cities and rural areas. The FBI flags 2025 data for Florida and North Dakota as limited because many agencies did not report all year.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 636.1 per 100,000. The U.S. benchmark is 327.6 per 100,000. It is not a simple average of the states.

21 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 29 below it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.

How much should you read into a rank?

The FBI does not publish margins of error. State figures are estimates: the FBI fills gaps for agencies that reported only part of the year or not at all. Reporting agencies covered 96.2% of the U.S. population in 2025, but coverage was limited in Florida and North Dakota. “Not published” means uncertainty is not quantified here, not that the estimates are exact.

Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).

Keep exploring

Read the ranking methodology.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Product / file
Uniform Crime Reporting, estimated crimes · Estimated crimes 2025: violent_crime
Period
2025
Unit
Per 100,000 residents
Calculation
100,000 × estimated violent crime offenses / FBI population estimate for the same year (Census-based). These match the FBI’s published state rates. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage
The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence
Annual, usually in late summer. 2026 estimates expected in 2027.
Independence
Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.

Download, cite, or embed

Download the default full table (CSV) or use the download above for the table’s current filter and order. Data dictionary and source metadata

Updates and corrections

Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.

Related rankings

State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.

01

Murder rate

2025 · FBI UCR

8.7/100k Louisiana · highest estimate 02

Property crime rate

2025 · FBI UCR

2,239.5/100k New Mexico · highest estimate 03

Worst drivers by state (traffic deaths)

2023 · NHTSA + FHWA

1.79/100M mi Mississippi · highest estimate

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