Audrain County, MI

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Missouri For 2021

For the third year running, Missouri’s third-biggest city, Springfield, ranks as the most dangerous place to call home in the state. While Springfield didn’t rank #1 in violent or property crime, the second highest place rankings in both categories land it at the top of this list. Springfield had the highest rate of rape cases in Missouri for 2019, averaging just about one a day over the year. On top of that, Springfield had the third-highest burglary rate in Missouri, so it’s a good idea to lock your doors here. Overall, residents had a 1 in 12 chance of being the victim of a property crime over 2019, so you’ll want to watch your wallets and purses when you’re strolling around Nathanial Greene/Close Memorial Park. Known as the home of the the Gateway Arch, St. Louis is also a gateway to high crime rates. St. Louis is Missouri’s most violent city, recording 5,792 rapes, murders, robberies, and assaults over 2019. St. Louis stands out by having the highest murder rate in Missouri by a wide margin, recording one murder about every other day over the year. Your car isn’t even safe in St. Louis, considering 2,998 people had their cars stolen in St. Louis in 2019. And that only represents a fraction of the 18,582 property crimes committed. Located just outside of St. Louis, Vinita Park ranks as Missouri’s third least safe city. Don’t let Vinita Park’s small size fool you — having 7 murders in 2019 means that the city actually had the second highest murder rate in the state. Overall, residents had a 1 in 69 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2019. We don’t envy the workload of the Vinita Park Police Department. Not only do they have to contend with such high rates of violence, but also Vinita Park’s crazy high burglary rate, which ranked as the second highest in Missouri. Known as the Live Entertainment Capital of the World, Branson is a popular tourist destination. Having all those random people come and go doesn’t do Branson any favors in terms of crime. In fact, Branson has the highest property crime rate in the state by a wide enough margin to actually give the city the highest overall crime rate — more than four times higher than the national average. So watch your pockets after getting a bit tipsy at a show, or you could join the 1 in 10 Branson residents who had their stuff stolen or damaged in 2019. Located in southwestern Missouri, Joplin has a substantial property crime problem. JoMo’s property crime rate ranked as the fourth highest in Missouri, with burglary rates ranking as the sixth highest. In other words, you’re more likely to have your phone stolen than to lose it over Joplin’s Grand Falls. Overall, Joplin is the least violent place on this list. There is a catch, though, as the city still had the fifth highest rate of rape cases in Missouri in 2019. We turn to the Bootheel Region of Missouri’s southeastern corner to reach its sixth most dangerous city for 2021, Caruthersville. Overall, property crime in Caruthersville is lower than most places on this list. However, the city did have the highest burglary rate in Missouri, with 78 cases recorded in 2019 — absurdly high for a city of just 5,451. Caruthersville also had Missouri’s fifth highest violent crime rate, with about one aggravated assault per week on average in 2019. So don’t try any fancy card-counting tactics at Century Casino, or you might end up one of these assault victims. You certainly won’t find Berkeley on our list of the best St. Louis suburbs and crime is a big reason why. Berkeley hasplenty of parks, but we wouldn’t recommend visiting them alone or after dark, considering the crime. Berkeley averaged just under two violent crimes per week and more than one property crime per day in 2019, but the really crazy thing here is the prevalence of car theft. Berkeley’s population is just 8,868, but 101 of those people had their cars robbed in 2019. Known for hosting the Missouri State Fair and the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia sees a lot of extra action thanks to these events. Unfortunately, Sedalia also sees a good amount of crime. Sedalia had 714 larcenies in 2019, or about two a day. That’s a lot of picked pockets and snatched purses for a city of 21,742. The city also had about three aggravated assaults per week over the year, the biggest contributor to Sedalia eighth highest-place ranking in violent crime. Kansas City is used to winning by now, between the Chiefs and the Royals. But getting used to high rates of crime is another matter. Missouri’s biggest city had the fourth highest murder rate in 2019, recording about three per week on average. Overall, residents had a 1 in 69 chance of being the victim of a violent attack over the year. On the flip-side, the property crime rate in Kansas City is the lowest on this list. And, being a big place, if you stick to Kansas City’s safest neighborhoods, you should be fine. Kansas City has some great suburbs, but Raytown isn’t one of them. We also would not recommend a solo trip to one of Raytown parks after dark, because the city had 9 murders in 2019.With a population of 28,932, that gives Raytown the third highest murder rate in Missouri. There were also 1,294 property crimes committed in Raytown over the year, with a whopping 213 car thefts and 255 burglaries.