Do you live in one of the most dangerous small towns in America?
We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a crime that happens pretty close by. While a major crime blocks or towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, most likely, where you live is relatively safe in the long run.
We wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the FBI crime data using Saturday Night Science to identify the most dangerous small towns with populations over 5,000 and under 50,000. That left us with 2,509 places in the U.S. to measure.
These are the small cities in the United States with big crime problems.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is the United States’s statewide median.
On the map
Where the most dangerous small cities in America are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Most Dangerous Small Cities In The US
To rank the most dangerous small towns in America, we turned to Saturday Night Science to research FBI crime data.
We defined a “small city” as a population under 50,000 and over 5,000. And then we measured the following two criteria for each of these 2,509 US cities:
We ranked each city on both criteria and averaged the rankings together to create a “Crime Index.” The city with the highest Crime Index, Florida City, was named the most dangerous small city in the United States.
- Violent Crime Per Capita
- Property Crime Per Capita
We updated this report for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the most dangerous small cities in America. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment — don’t freak out.
The full list
Most Dangerous Small Cities To Live In America
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Source: FBI crime data. US cities with populations between 5,000 and 50,000.
Summary
There You Have It — The Most Dangerous Small Cities In The US
We looked at FBI crime data to find the most dangerous small cities in the U.S. for 2026. We analyzed each city’s violent and property crime rates per capita and combined them into a Crime Index.
The most dangerous small cities in the United States are Florida City, FL, Lumberton, NC, Alexandria, LA, Dillon, SC, Berkeley, MO, Commerce, CA, Bessemer, AL, Atlantic City, NJ, Emeryville, CA, and Monroe, LA.
Florida City is the most dangerous, and Bellefonte, PA, PA is the safest for cities with populations between 5,000 and 50,000.
Questions and answers
Most Dangerous Small Cities In America FAQs
What is the most dangerous small city in America?
Florida City, FL is the most dangerous small city in America for 2026, based on FBI crime data. Lumberton and Alexandria are next.
What are the most dangerous small cities in the US?
The most dangerous small cities in America are Florida City, FL, Lumberton, NC, Alexandria, LA, Dillon, SC, Berkeley, MO, Commerce, CA, Bessemer, AL, Atlantic City, NJ, Emeryville, CA, and Monroe, LA. We ranked 2,509 US cities with populations between 5,000 and 50,000.
What counts as a small city?
For this ranking, anywhere with between 5,000 and 50,000 residents. 2,509 cities fit that window and reported crime data to the FBI.
What is the safest small city on this list?
Bellefonte, PA posts the lowest combined crime rate of the small cities we ranked. Our separate safest small cities in America ranking covers that end properly.
How do you rank dangerous small cities?
We take each city’s violent and property crimes from the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report and divide by population. Small populations can swing rates, which is exactly why we rank per capita.
