Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Oregon?
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 Oregon 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 Beaver State with over 7,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in Oregon? The city with the highest murder rate in Oregon is Astoria with 20 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Oregon with highest number of murders? The city in Oregon with the highest number of murders is Portland with 67 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Oregon ranked. There were ‘only’ 26 cities in Oregon where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 40 places had no murder.
20 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Clatsop County, Oregon
Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific Ocean, the city was named after John Jacob Astor, an investor from New York City whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811, 206years ago. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1876.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Klamath County, Oregon
Klamath Falls is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was sited. The name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1893. The population was 20,840 at the 2010 census. The city is on the southeastern shore of the Upper Klamath Lake and about 25 miles north of the California-Oregon border.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Umatilla County, Oregon
Umatilla is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is named for the Umatilla River, which enters the Columbia River on the side of the city. The river is named after the Umatilla Tribe. The city is on the south side of the Columbia River along U.S. Route 730 and I-82.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
11 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Washington County, Oregon
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Multnomah County. It is a major port in the Willamette Valley region of the Pacific Northwest, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. The city covers 145 square miles and had an estimated population of 639,863 in 2016, making it the 26th most populous city in the United States, and the second-most populous in the Pacific Northwest. Approximately 2,424,955 people live in the Portland metropolitan statistical area, making it the 25th most populous MSA in the United States. Its Combined Statistical Area ranks 18th with a population of 3,160,488. Roughly 60% of Oregon’s population resides within the Portland metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
10 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Umatilla County, Oregon
Hermiston is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population of 17,985 makes it the largest city in Eastern Oregon. Hermiston is the largest, and fastest-growing, city in the Hermiston-Pendleton Micropolitan Statistical Area, the eighth largest Core Based Statistical Area in Oregon with a combined population of 87,062 at the 2010 census. Hermiston sits near the junction of I-82 and I-84, & is 7 miles south of the Columbia River, Lake Wallula, and the McNary Dam. The Hermiston area has become a transportation and logistics hub due to the proximity of the I-82 and I-84 interchange, and central location between the major Pacific Northwest metropolitan areas. The city is also known for its watermelons, which are part of its branding.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
10 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Lincoln County, Oregon
Lincoln City is a city in on the Oregon Coast between Newport and Florence. It is the county seat of Lincoln County. It is named after the county, which was named in honor of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The population was 8,722 in 2016. During the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, this city was the first in the path of totality to view a partial solar eclipse.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
10 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Linn County, Oregon
Sweet Home is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 8,925 at the 2010 census. According to the city, “Sweet Home is sometimes referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Santiam Playground’ due to its proximity to nearby lakes, rivers and the Cascade Mountains.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9 per 100k · #8 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Lincoln County, Oregon
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9 per 100k · #9 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Lane County, Oregon
Cottage Grove is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The population was 9,686 at the 2010 census. Cottage Grove is the third largest city in Lane County. The city is located on Interstate 5, Oregon Route 99, and the main Willamette Valley line of the Union Pacific railroad.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8 per 100k · #10 highest murder rate in Oregon
Located in
Clackamas County, Oregon
Gladstone is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 11,491 at the 2010 census. Gladstone is an approximately 4-square-mile suburban community, 12 miles south of Portland, the largest city in Oregon, and located at the confluence of the Clackamas and Willamette rivers.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Oregon’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Oregon’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Oregon
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 Oregon 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 Astoria. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in Oregon. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In Oregon
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Murders | Murders/100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astoria | 9,918 | 2 | 20 |
| 2 | Klamath Falls | 21,911 | 3 | 14 |
| 3 | Umatilla | 7,884 | 1 | 13 |
| 4 | Portland | 623,066 | 67 | 11 |
| 5 | Hermiston | 19,504 | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | Lincoln City | 10,061 | 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Sweet Home | 10,325 | 1 | 10 |
| 8 | Newport | 10,553 | 1 | 9 |
| 9 | Cottage Grove | 10,627 | 1 | 9 |
| 10 | Gladstone | 11,810 | 1 | 8 |
| 11 | Coos Bay | 15,469 | 1 | 6 |
| 12 | The Dalles | 15,712 | 1 | 6 |
| 13 | Dallas | 17,869 | 1 | 6 |
| 14 | Gresham | 109,452 | 6 | 5 |
| 15 | Central Point | 19,199 | 1 | 5 |
| 16 | Salem | 177,936 | 8 | 4 |
| 17 | Roseburg | 23,922 | 1 | 4 |
| 18 | Medford | 84,766 | 3 | 4 |
| 19 | Bend | 106,241 | 3 | 3 |
| 20 | Redmond | 38,159 | 1 | 3 |
| 21 | Grants Pass | 39,113 | 1 | 3 |
| 22 | Lake Oswego | 39,627 | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | Springfield | 60,830 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 | Corvallis | 61,474 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Eugene | 178,057 | 2 | 1 |
| 26 | Beaverton | 96,762 | 1 | 1 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 26 Oregon cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Oregon For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in Oregon 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 Oregon are Astoria, Klamath Falls, Umatilla, Portland, Hermiston, Lincoln City, Sweet Home, Newport, Cottage Grove, and Gladstone.
