Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Nevada?
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 Nevada 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 7 cities in the Silver State with over 8,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in Nevada? The city with the highest murder rate in Nevada is Winnemucca with 24 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Nevada with highest number of murders? The city in Nevada with the highest number of murders is Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with 106 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Nevada ranked. There were ‘only’ 7 cities in Nevada where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 4 places had no murder.
24 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in Nevada
Located in
Humboldt County, Nevada
Winnemucca ) is the only incorporated city in and is the county seat of Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 7,396, up 3.1 percent from the 2000 census figure of 7,174. Interstate 80 passes through the city, where it meets U.S. Route 95.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in Nevada
Located in
Clark County, Nevada
North Las Vegas is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, in the Las Vegas Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 216,961, with an estimated population of 249,180 in 2017. The city was incorporated on May 16, 1946. It is in the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA and is the fourth largest city in the state of Nevada.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
10 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in Nevada
Located in
Elko County, Nevada
Coordinates: 4050N 11546W 40.833; -115.767 Elko is the largest city and county seat of Elko County, Nevada, United States. The population was 18,297 at the 2010 census. The city straddles the Humboldt River.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in Nevada
Located in
Washoe County, Nevada
Reno is a city in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is in Northern Nevada, approximately 22 miles from Lake Tahoe. Known as “The Biggest Little City in the World”, Reno is famous for its hotels and casinos and as the birthplace of Harrah’s Entertainment. It is the county seat of Washoe County, in the northwestern part of the state. The city sits in a high desert at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and its downtown area occupies a valley informally known as the Truckee Meadows. It is named after Jesse L. Reno.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
6 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in Nevada
5 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in Nevada
Located in
Washoe County, Nevada
Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904 and incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population count was 90,264. It is the fifth most populous city in Nevada. It is named after the late Nevada Governor John Sparks, a member of the Silver Party.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in Nevada
Located in
Clark County, Nevada
Henderson, officially the City of Henderson, is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about 16 miles southeast of Las Vegas. It is the second-largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 292,969 in 2016. The city is part of the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which spans the entire Las Vegas Valley. Henderson occupies the southeastern end of the valley, at an elevation of approximately 1,330 feet.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Nevada’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Nevada’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Nevada
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 Nevada for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 7 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 Winnemucca. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in Nevada. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In Nevada
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Murders | Murders/100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Winnemucca | 8,216 | 2 | 24 |
| 2 | North Las Vegas | 293,100 | 35 | 12 |
| 3 | Elko | 20,861 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | Reno | 278,313 | 23 | 8 |
| 5 | Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department | 1,716,565 | 106 | 6 |
| 6 | Sparks | 110,807 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | Henderson | 343,619 | 8 | 2 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 7 Nevada cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Nevada For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in Nevada 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 Nevada are Winnemucca, North Las Vegas, Elko, Reno, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sparks, Henderson.
