Most Dangerous Cities in Missouri
Top 50 most dangerous cities in Missouri ranked by highest violent crime rate per 100,000 residents. Includes cities with 10,000+ population.
FBI UCR Highest-Crime Snapshot: Missouri
Missouri's 50 highest-crime cities for 2024 range from Kansas City at the top with a violent crime rate of 1547.1/100K down to Maryland Heights at 168.2/100K — all sitting above most US municipal averages. The list draws on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program Table 8 submissions and restricts inclusion to cities of 10,000 residents or more so that per-capita rates reflect enough underlying offenses to be statistically meaningful. Across these 50 Missouri cities the average violent crime rate reaches 456.1 per 100,000 residents, a figure that typically exceeds the US national violent crime benchmark by a wide margin.
At the top of the ranking, Kansas City recorded 7,914 violent crimes and 23,920 property crimes against a reporting population of 511,535 in 2024. That produces a property crime rate of 4676.1 per 100,000 residents alongside the 1547.1/100K violent rate, with both Part I crime categories elevated compared to state and national benchmarks. The five most dangerous Missouri cities on this list are Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Sikeston, Bellefontaine Neighbors, each submitting Part I offense counts to the FBI UCR Program for 2024.
Elevated per-capita rates can reflect multiple factors beyond raw crime volume: small reporting populations amplify year-to-year rate volatility, transient or tourist populations dilute resident denominators, and municipal boundaries sometimes exclude higher-income suburbs that would otherwise balance the total. UCR figures also reflect offenses reported to and submitted by local law enforcement and can miss unreported crime entirely, so rankings measure visible, recorded crime rather than absolute community conditions. Readers comparing these cities with others across Missouri can use the A-F safety grades page or national rankings to contextualize how 2024 figures stack up against peers nationwide.
| # | Grade | City | Population | Violent Crime Rate | Property Crime Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | Kansas City | 511,535 | 1547.1/100K | 4676.1/100K |
| 2 | F | St. Louis | 277,294 | 1367.1/100K | 5706.9/100K |
| 3 | F | Springfield | 170,527 | 1178.1/100K | 4184.7/100K |
| 4 | F | Sikeston | 16,026 | 1029.6/100K | 3625.4/100K |
| 5 | F | Bellefontaine Neighbors | 10,263 | 945.1/100K | 2747.7/100K |
| 6 | F | Raytown | 28,817 | 864.1/100K | 3737.4/100K |
| 7 | F | St. Joseph | 70,139 | 728.6/100K | 3850.9/100K |
| 8 | F | Ferguson | 17,835 | 712.1/100K | 3498.7/100K |
| 9 | F | Grandview | 25,200 | 674.6/100K | 3781.7/100K |
| 10 | F | Bridgeton | 11,206 | 651.4/100K | 5755.8/100K |
| 11 | F | Cape Girardeau | 40,753 | 623.3/100K | 2456.3/100K |
| 12 | F | Independence | 120,271 | 571.2/100K | 3523.7/100K |
| 13 | F | Joplin | 53,533 | 560.4/100K | 4120.8/100K |
| 14 | F | Sedalia | 22,201 | 545/100K | 2635/100K |
| 15 | F | Overland | 15,358 | 527.4/100K | 2181.3/100K |
| 16 | F | Hazelwood | 24,678 | 490.3/100K | 2520.5/100K |
| 17 | F | Branson | 12,982 | 477.6/100K | 6016/100K |
| 18 | F | Kirksville | 17,472 | 417.8/100K | 1934.5/100K |
| 19 | F | Lebanon | 15,567 | 417.5/100K | 2055.6/100K |
| 20 | F | St. Ann | 12,547 | 406.5/100K | 1211.4/100K |
| 21 | F | Union | 13,209 | 393.7/100K | 2324.2/100K |
| 22 | F | Gladstone | 27,404 | 375.9/100K | 1696.8/100K |
| 23 | F | Rolla | 20,591 | 373.9/100K | 2539.9/100K |
| 24 | F | West Plains | 12,734 | 361.2/100K | 1806.2/100K |
| 25 | F | Hannibal | 16,762 | 358/100K | 2404.2/100K |
| 26 | F | Columbia | 130,354 | 347.5/100K | 2317.5/100K |
| 27 | F | Florissant | 50,695 | 341.3/100K | 1832.5/100K |
| 28 | F | Belton | 26,058 | 333.9/100K | 1872.7/100K |
| 29 | F | Jefferson City | 42,561 | 333.6/100K | 2039.4/100K |
| 30 | F | Excelsior Springs | 10,621 | 329.5/100K | 2391.5/100K |
| 31 | F | Farmington | 18,574 | 323/100K | 2751.2/100K |
| 32 | F | Moberly | 13,206 | 318/100K | 1022.3/100K |
| 33 | F | Warrensburg | 19,785 | 313.4/100K | 2623.2/100K |
| 34 | F | University City | 33,799 | 298.8/100K | 1574/100K |
| 35 | F | Neosho | 13,581 | 272.4/100K | 2142.7/100K |
| 36 | F | Washington | 15,707 | 254.7/100K | 1241.5/100K |
| 37 | F | Blue Springs | 61,096 | 235.7/100K | 2448.6/100K |
| 38 | F | Webb City | 13,406 | 223.8/100K | 2125.9/100K |
| 39 | F | Kirkwood | 29,082 | 213.2/100K | 1396.1/100K |
| 40 | F | Kearney | 11,267 | 213/100K | 612.4/100K |
| 41 | F | Fulton | 12,431 | 209.2/100K | 1086/100K |
| 42 | F | St. Peters | 59,993 | 206.7/100K | 1058.5/100K |
| 43 | F | Liberty | 30,986 | 203.3/100K | 1571.7/100K |
| 44 | F | Smithville | 10,888 | 183.7/100K | 707.2/100K |
| 45 | F | Festus | 13,693 | 182.6/100K | 1029.7/100K |
| 46 | F | Grain Valley | 16,930 | 177.2/100K | 1228.6/100K |
| 47 | F | Maryville | 10,208 | 176.3/100K | 1733.9/100K |
| 48 | F | Carthage | 15,549 | 173.6/100K | 1286.3/100K |
| 49 | F | Bolivar | 11,523 | 173.6/100K | 1024/100K |
| 50 | F | Maryland Heights | 27,351 | 168.2/100K | 1330.8/100K |
Explore More
Top of the List — Missouri Cities with Highest Violent Rates
Jump into the top five Missouri cities from this list, or launch the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.
Methodology
Rankings are based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program data for 2024. The violent crime rate is calculated as the number of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) per 100,000 residents. Only cities in Missouri with a population of 10,000 or more are included. Cities that did not report crime data are excluded.
Source: FBI Crime in the United States, Table 8. Population figures cross-check against U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI populations are unavailable. Data reflects reported offenses and may not capture all criminal activity.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.