Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Kentucky?
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 Kentucky 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 26 cities in the Bluegrass State with over 7,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in Kentucky? The city with the highest murder rate in Kentucky is Oak Grove with 25 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Kentucky with highest number of murders? The city in Kentucky with the highest number of murders is Louisville Metro with 147 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Kentucky ranked. There were ‘only’ 26 cities in Kentucky where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 50 places had no murder.
25 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Christian County, Kentucky
Oak Grove is a home rule-class city adjacent to the Fort Campbell army base in Christian County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 7,489 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Clarksville, Tennessee metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
22 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in Kentucky
18 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Boone County, Kentucky
Florence is a home rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. Florence is part of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky metropolitan area. The population was 29,951 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
17 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Taylor County, Kentucky
Campbellsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Taylor County, Kentucky, United States. The population within city limits was 10,604 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is the site of Campbellsville University, a private institution. On the border is Green River Lake, established for flood control and now the center of a popular park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Laurel County, Kentucky
London is a home rule-class city in Laurel County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 7,993 at the time of the 2010 U.S. census. London, Kentucky, is the second-largest city named London in the United States and the fourth-largest in the world. It is part of the London, Kentucky micropolitan area. Of the seventeen micropolitan areas in Kentucky, London is the largest; the London micropolitan area’s 2010 Census population was 126,369. London is also home to the annual World Chicken Festival that celebrates the life of Colonel Sanders and features the world’s largest skillet.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shively is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States and a suburb of Louisville within the Louisville Metro government. As of the 2010 Census, the city’s population was 15,264, reflecting an increase of 107 from 15,157 in 2000.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Hardin County, Kentucky
Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, and was estimated at 29,906 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2016, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. It is included in the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Louisville/Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Madison, Kentucky-Indiana Combined Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
11 per 100k · #8 highest murder rate in Kentucky
11 per 100k · #9 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Bullitt County, Kentucky
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
11 per 100k · #10 highest murder rate in Kentucky
Located in
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Jeffersontown is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 26,595 at the 2010 U.S. census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Kentucky’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Kentucky’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Kentucky
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 Kentucky for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 26 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 Oak Grove. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in Kentucky. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In Kentucky
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Murders | Murders/100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Grove | 7,985 | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | Louisville Metro | 676,843 | 147 | 22 |
| 3 | Florence | 33,208 | 6 | 18 |
| 4 | Campbellsville | 11,724 | 2 | 17 |
| 5 | London | 7,602 | 1 | 13 |
| 6 | Shively | 15,394 | 2 | 13 |
| 7 | Elizabethtown | 33,522 | 4 | 12 |
| 8 | Middlesboro | 8,901 | 1 | 11 |
| 9 | Hillview | 8,950 | 1 | 11 |
| 10 | Jeffersontown | 28,563 | 3 | 11 |
| 11 | Georgetown | 40,037 | 3 | 7 |
| 12 | Newport | 13,702 | 1 | 7 |
| 13 | Hopkinsville | 30,694 | 2 | 7 |
| 14 | Danville | 17,406 | 1 | 6 |
| 15 | Richmond | 38,072 | 2 | 5 |
| 16 | Madisonville | 19,294 | 1 | 5 |
| 17 | Erlanger | 19,827 | 1 | 5 |
| 18 | Lexington | 323,254 | 16 | 5 |
| 19 | Covington | 40,984 | 2 | 5 |
| 20 | Radcliff | 22,658 | 1 | 4 |
| 21 | Paducah | 26,624 | 1 | 4 |
| 22 | Henderson | 27,600 | 1 | 4 |
| 23 | Frankfort | 28,177 | 1 | 4 |
| 24 | Nicholasville | 32,866 | 1 | 3 |
| 25 | Owensboro | 60,096 | 1 | 2 |
| 26 | Bowling Green | 77,503 | 1 | 1 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 26 Kentucky cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Kentucky For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in Kentucky 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 Kentucky are Oak Grove, Louisville Metro, Florence, Campbellsville, London, Shively, Elizabethtown, Middlesboro, Hillview, and Jeffersontown.
