Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Connecticut?
We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe.
To find the cities in Connecticut with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita, we used Saturday Night Science to compare the FBI crime data on murders for the 23 cities in the Constitution State with over 14,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in Connecticut? The city with the highest murder rate in Connecticut is Hartford with 18 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Connecticut with highest number of murders? The city in Connecticut with the highest number of murders is Hartford with 21 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Connecticut ranked. There were ‘only’ 23 cities in Connecticut where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 71 places had no murder.
18 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in Connecticut
Located in
Hartford County, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford’s population was 124,775, making it Connecticut’s third-largest city after the coastal cities of Bridgeport and New Haven. Census Bureau estimates since then have indicated Hartford’s fall to fourth place statewide, as a result of sustained population growth in the coastal city of Stamford.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
11 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in Connecticut
Located in
New Haven County, Connecticut
New Haven, in the U.S. state of Connecticut, is the principal municipality in Greater New Haven, which had a total population of 862,477 in 2010. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, and is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Connecticut, with a population of 129,779 people as of the 2010 United States Census. According to a census of 1 July 2012, by the Census Bureau, the city had a population of 130,741.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in Connecticut
Located in
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Bridgeport is a seaport city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the largest city in the state and is located in Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Island Sound. Bridgeport had a population of 144,229 during the 2010 Census, making it also the 5th-most populous in New England. It is bordered by the towns of Trumbull to the north, Fairfield to the west, and Stratford to the east. The Greater Bridgeport area is the 48th-largest urban area in the United States. Located 60 miles from Manhattan and 40 miles from the Bronx, Bridgeport is also part of the New York metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
7 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in Connecticut
7 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in Connecticut
Located in
New Haven County, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City. Waterbury is in New Haven County, Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, Waterbury had a population of 110,366, making it the 10th largest city in the New York Metropolitan Area, 9th largest city in New England and the 5th largest city in Connecticut.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
6 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in Connecticut
6 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in Connecticut
Located in
Hartford County, Connecticut
East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,252 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
5 per 100k · #8 highest murder rate in Connecticut
Located in
New Haven County, Connecticut
Ansonia is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, on the Naugatuck River, immediately north of Derby, and about 12 miles northwest of New Haven. The population was 19,249 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code for Ansonia is 06401. The city is served by the Metro-North Railroad. Ansonia Station is a stop on the railroad passenger commuter service’s Waterbury line, connecting to New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Ansonia also is served by the Connecticut Transit bus carrier. Connecticut Route 8 serves Ansonia.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
5 per 100k · #9 highest murder rate in Connecticut
5 per 100k · #10 highest murder rate in Connecticut
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Connecticut’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Connecticut’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Connecticut
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we used Saturday Night Science to compare the hard numbers from the FBI’s last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of murders in each city annually.
We only looked at every single city in Connecticut for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 23 cities to rank.
We took the number of murders per capita as the ranking factor. The place with the most murders per capita based on the most recent data is Hartford. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in Connecticut. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In Connecticut
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Murders | Murders/100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartford | 119,626 | 21 | 18 |
| 2 | New Haven | 137,243 | 15 | 11 |
| 3 | Bridgeport | 148,132 | 12 | 8 |
| 4 | Cromwell | 14,411 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Waterbury | 115,363 | 8 | 7 |
| 6 | Ledyard | 15,483 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | East Hartford | 50,584 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Ansonia | 19,049 | 1 | 5 |
| 9 | East Lyme | 19,094 | 1 | 5 |
| 10 | Wallingford | 43,561 | 2 | 5 |
| 11 | Bloomfield | 22,032 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | New Britain | 74,528 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 | Ridgefield | 24,924 | 1 | 4 |
| 14 | Simsbury | 25,108 | 1 | 4 |
| 15 | West Haven | 54,598 | 2 | 4 |
| 16 | Groton Town | 27,927 | 1 | 4 |
| 17 | Windsor | 29,382 | 1 | 3 |
| 18 | Bristol | 61,895 | 2 | 3 |
| 19 | Middletown | 48,331 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | Milford | 53,065 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Hamden | 59,908 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 | Meriden | 59,943 | 1 | 2 |
| 23 | Stamford | 136,483 | 1 | 1 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 23 Connecticut cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Connecticut For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in Connecticut with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve.
The cities with the highest murder per capita in Connecticut are Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Cromwell, Waterbury, Ledyard, East Hartford, Ansonia, East Lyme, and Wallingford.
