Crime in America 2015: Top 10 Safest & Most Dangerous Metros in the West

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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

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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

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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

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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*

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL CRIME IN AMERICA 2015 COVERAGE, INCLUDING THE SAFEST & MOST DANGEROUS CITIES AND STATES.
Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.