The Anchorage, Alaska metro area is the number one most dangerous metro in the West. According to the latest crime data from the FBI, which covers calendar year 2013, the Anchorage metro had a rate of 794 violent crimes per 100,000 people. This is compared to the safest metro in the West, Logan, Utah, which had 55 violent crimes per 100,000 people. California topped the list of Most Dangerous Metros with five cities on the list, while Utah had four metro areas in the West’s Top 10 Safest. Of the total number of violent crimes across the country, 23.5 percent occurred in the West, which is home to 23.5 percent of the nation’s population. Check out the rankings below to see the Top 10 Safest and Top 10 Most Dangerous metro areas across the West. All rates below are calculated per 100,000 people. Click here to read more information about Metropolitan Statistical Areas and these rankings.
READ MORE: 2015 CRIME RANKINGS FOR THE MIDWEST, THE SOUTH, AND THE NORTHEAST
READ MORE: SLIDESHOW: TOP 15 MOST DANGEROUS METROS IN THE UNITED STATES
READ MORE: CRIME MAP OF THE UNITED STATES
TOP 10 MOST DANGEROUS METROS IN THE WEST
#1 Anchorage, AK Metro Area
Overall Rank: #6
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 794
– Murder: 5
– Rape: 133
– Robbery: 168
– Aggravated Assault: 488
Population: 314,553
The Anchorage, AK metro area includes: Anchorage Municipality and Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Alaska, as well as the city of Anchorage.
#2 Albuquerque, NM Metro Area
Overall Rank: #9
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 742
– Murder: 6
– Rape: 64
– Robbery: 137
– Aggravated Assault: 536
Population: 902,627
The Albuquerque, NM metro area includes: Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia counties, as well as the city of Albuquerque.
#3 Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area
Overall Rank: #13fa
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 703
– Murder: 7
– Rape: 19
– Robbery: 208
– Aggravated Assault: 469
Population: 708,679
The Stockton-Lodi, CA metro area includes: San Joaquin County as well as the cities of Stockton and Lodi.
#4 Fairbanks, AK Metro Area*
Overall Rank: #14
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 682
– Murder: 0
– Rape: 101
– Robbery: 118
– Aggravated Assault: 463
Population: 34,741
The Fairbanks, AK metro area includes: the North Star Borough in Alaska as well as the city of Fairbanks.
*A large portion of the North Star Borough is policed by Alaskan State Troopers, which report their data as one agency. As a result, data is only available for a portion of the Fairbanks metropolitan area.
#5 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metro Area
Overall Rank: #15
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 678
– Murder: 6
– Rape: 42
– Robbery: 233
– Aggravated Assault: 397
Population: 2,025,864
The Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV metro area includes: Clark County in Nevada, as well as the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson
#6 Madera, CA Metro Area
Overall Rank: #18
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 666
– Murder: 9
– Rape: 39
– Robbery: 86
– Aggravated Assault: 532
Population: 152,772
The Madera, CA metro area includes: Madera County in California as well as the city of Madera.
#7 Pueblo, CO Metro Area
Overall Rank: #21
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 655
– Murder: 3
– Rape: 105
– Robbery: 135
– Aggravated Assault: 412
Population: 162,300
The Pueblo, CO metro area includes: Pueblo County in Colorado as well as the city of Pueblo.
#8 Redding, CA Metro Area
Overall Rank: #22
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 642
– Murder: 6
– Rape: 47
– Robbery: 103
– Aggravated Assault: 487
Population: 179,250
The Redding, CA metro area includes: Shasta County, California as well as the city of Redding.
#9 Merced, CA Metro Area
Overall Rank: #26
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 588
– Murder: 10
– Rape: 30
– Robbery: 87
– Aggravated Assault: 461
Population: 264,498
The Merced, CA metro area includes: Merced County, California as well as the city of Merced.
#10 Bakersfield, CA Metro Area
Overall Rank: #32
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 576
– Murder: 7
– Rape: 20
– Robbery: 149
– Aggravated Assault: 400
Population: 862,202
The Bakersfield, CA metro area includes: Kern County, California as well as the city of Bakersfield.
TOP 10 SAFEST METROS IN THE WEST
#1 Logan, UT-ID Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 55
– Murder: 0.8
– Rape: 25
– Robbery: 0
– Aggravated Assault: 29
Population: 129,858
The Logan, UT-ID metro area includes: Franklin County in Idaho; and Cache County in Utah, as well as the city of Logan.
#2 Provo-Orem, UT Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 70
– Murder: 1
– Rape: 27
– Robbery: 9
Aggravated Assault: 33
Population: 561,483
The Provo-Orem, UT metro area includes: Juab and Utah counties in Utah, as well as the cities of Provo and Orem.
#3 Albany, OR Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 81
– Murder: 0.8
– Rape: 15
– Robbery: 38
– Aggravated Assault: 28
Population: 119,155
The Albany, OR metro area includes: Linn County in Oregon as well as the city of Albany.
#4 Corvallis, OR Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 120
– Murder: 0
– Rape: 15
– Robbery: 29
– Aggravated Assault: 76
Population: 86,952
The Corvallis, OR metro area includes: Benton County, Oregon, as well as the city of Corvallis.
#5 St. George, UT Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 141
– Murder: 1
– Rape: 39
– Robbery: 12
– Aggravated Assault: 89
Population: 147,923
The St. George, UT metro area includes: Washington County in Utah as well as the city of St. George.
#6 Idaho Falls, ID Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 159
– Murder: 2
– Rape: 35
– Robbery: 17
– Aggravated Assault: 104
Population: 137,561
The Idaho Falls, ID metro area includes: Bonneville, Butte, and Jefferson counties in Idaho, as well as the city of Idaho Falls.
#7 Grants Pass, OR Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 164
– Murder: 4
– Rape: 13
– Robbery: 45
– Aggravated Assault: 102
Population: 83,162
The Grants Pass, OR metro area includes: Josephine County, Oregon as well as the city of Grants Pass.
#8 Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 164
– Murder: 1
– Rape: 53
– Robbery: 30
– Aggravated Assault: 80
Population: 620,648
The Ogden-Clearfield, UT metro area includes: Box Elder, Davis, Morgan, and Weber counties in Utah, as well as the cities of Ogden and Clearfield.
# 9 Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 183
– Murder: 0
– Rape: 18
– Robbery: 34
– Aggravated Assault: 131
Population: 61,820
The Lewiston, ID-WA metro area includes: Includes Nez Perce County in Idaho as well as the city of Lewiston; and Asotin County, Washington.
#10 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area
Rates/100,000 people
– Violent Crime: 194
– Murder: 4
– Rape: 10
– Robbery: 72
– Aggravated Assault: 107
Population: 840,678
The Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA metro area includes: Includes Ventura County, California, as well as the cities of Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and Camarillo.
The Office of Management and Budget began delineating Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the 1950s in order to provide an established level of analysis for government reports and statistics. MSAs are characterized as having an urban core with more than 50,000 people and surrounding areas that have close social and economic integration. The FBI does not provide data on all of the 388 MSAs defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Click here to see the FBI’s explanation for why all MSAs are not included. MSAs are organized by counties or their equivalent. All statistics in Law Street’s Crime in America metro rankings are presented as rates per 100,000 people, and they are taken from the FBI’s annual Crime in the United States publication section on metropolitan statistical areas. To see the FBI’s data click here.
—
Research and analysis by Law Street’s Crime in America Team: Kevin Rizzo, Alexis Evans, Chelsey Goff, Anneliese Mahoney.