Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Virginia?
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 Virginia 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 31 cities in the Old Dominion with over 5,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in Virginia? The city with the highest murder rate in Virginia is Petersburg with 45 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Virginia with highest number of murders? The city in Virginia with the highest number of murders is Richmond with 56 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Virginia ranked. There were ‘only’ 31 cities in Virginia where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 31 places had no murder.
45 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Petersburg city, VirginiaPetersburg is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,420. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes. It is located on the Appomattox River and 21 miles south of the state capital of Richmond. The city’s unique industrial past and its location as a transportation hub combined to create wealth for Virginia and the region.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
37 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Portsmouth city, VirginiaPortsmouth is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 95,535. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
26 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Hopewell city, VirginiaHopewell is an independent city within Prince George County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,591. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Hopewell with Prince George County for statistical purposes.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
24 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Richmond city, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region. It was incorporated in 1742, and has been an independent city since 1871.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
21 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Danville city, VirginiaDanville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,055. It is bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It hosts the Danville Braves baseball club of the Appalachian League.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
18 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Emporia city, VirginiaEmporia is an independent city located within the confines of Greensville County, Virginia, United States. It and a predecessor town have been the county seat of Greensville County since 1791. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,927, making it the second-least populous city in Virginia. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Emporia with surrounding Greensville county for statistical purposes.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
17 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in Virginia
Woodstock is a town in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States. It has a population of 5,097 according to the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Shenandoah County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16 per 100k · #8 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Norfolk city, VirginiaNorfolk is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 242,803; in 2015, the population was estimated to be 247,189 making it the second-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Beach.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13 per 100k · #9 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Halifax County, VirginiaSouth Boston, formerly Boyd’s Ferry, is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12 per 100k · #10 highest murder rate in Virginia
Located in
Roanoke County, VirginiaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Virginia’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Virginia’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Virginia
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 Virginia for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 31 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 Petersburg. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in Virginia. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In Virginia
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Murders | Murders/100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petersburg | 33,538 | 15 | 45 |
| 2 | Portsmouth | 97,156 | 36 | 37 |
| 3 | Hopewell | 22,843 | 6 | 26 |
| 4 | Richmond | 231,805 | 56 | 24 |
| 5 | Danville | 41,915 | 9 | 21 |
| 6 | Emporia | 5,426 | 1 | 18 |
| 7 | Woodstock | 5,983 | 1 | 17 |
| 8 | Norfolk | 230,460 | 37 | 16 |
| 9 | South Boston | 7,757 | 1 | 13 |
| 10 | Vinton | 8,044 | 1 | 12 |
| 11 | Wytheville | 8,138 | 1 | 12 |
| 12 | Newport News | 183,563 | 22 | 12 |
| 13 | Franklin | 8,469 | 1 | 12 |
| 14 | Pulaski | 8,818 | 1 | 11 |
| 15 | Roanoke | 97,027 | 11 | 11 |
| 16 | Lynchburg | 80,339 | 9 | 11 |
| 17 | Hampton | 138,100 | 15 | 11 |
| 18 | Colonial Heights | 18,605 | 2 | 11 |
| 19 | Suffolk | 103,506 | 11 | 11 |
| 20 | Waynesboro | 23,673 | 2 | 8 |
| 21 | Staunton | 26,151 | 2 | 8 |
| 22 | Martinsville | 13,968 | 1 | 7 |
| 23 | Front Royal | 15,524 | 1 | 6 |
| 24 | Williamsburg | 16,098 | 1 | 6 |
| 25 | Culpeper | 21,302 | 1 | 5 |
| 26 | Chesapeake | 257,248 | 12 | 5 |
| 27 | Fredericksburg | 29,474 | 1 | 3 |
| 28 | Virginia Beach | 455,155 | 13 | 3 |
| 29 | Manassas | 43,028 | 1 | 2 |
| 30 | Charlottesville | 44,844 | 1 | 2 |
| 31 | Alexandria | 155,153 | 2 | 1 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 31 Virginia cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Virginia For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in Virginia 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 Virginia are Petersburg, Portsmouth, Hopewell, Richmond, Danville, Emporia, Woodstock, Norfolk, South Boston, and Vinton.
