In this piece, we will take a look at the 25 most dangerous states in the USA in 2023. If you want to skip our analysis of crime, and the related industries, and want to jump to the top five states in this list, then check out 5 Most Dangerous States in USA.
Crime, as the feds would love to remind you, does not pay. While getting away with breaking the law is likely once or twice, over the long term it is quite unsustainable since the odds are against the criminal.
However, not all crime is done for profit. Some crimes are a result of passion, while others stem from criminal behavior in general. Since this is not a psychological piece, we'll refrain from diving into the nuances of the human mind that end up influencing crime and instead, we'll take a look at the economic impact of crime and how the corporate world is gearing up to generate responses and prevent incidents from happening.
Before we get to that, and even as crime does not pay in the long term, in the short term it can be quite lucrative. There are dozens of lucrative industries in the world that skirt regulations and operate outside the ambit of the law to not only procure their inputs but also to avoid taxes. Our study of the top ten most profitable crimes shows that counterfeiting, cybercrime, and the drug trade are the top three most profitable crimes to commit. Cumulatively, they manage to rake in more than $2 trillion in revenue - making them quite lucrative than a wide variety of legitimate sectors.
Naturally, since the most profitable crimes are worth trillions of dollars, they also have an economic impact that is not limited only to them. This impact also ranges in the trillions of dollars, with an estimate showing that in 2021, violence had a global economic impact of $16.5 trillion - equivalent to a whopping 10.9% of the global GDP in that year. At the same time, some statistics also suggest that the number of murders and homicides in the world is also growing. These had stood at 362,000 in 1990 and jumped to 464,000 in 2017. On a positive note though, the global homicide rate per 100,000 did drop from 7.4 in 1990 to 6.1 in 2017. For more details on these statistics and a list of the most dangerous cities in the world in terms of homicide rates, be sure to check out 30 Most Dangerous Cities in the World.
Narrowing our focus to the most dangerous states in the U.S., crime in America actually tends to drop in recessionary times. Property crimes in the U.S. actually fell to a six year low as the Great Recession of 2008 hit, and they continued to stay at low levels as America limped towards recovering from the historic impacts of an economic crisis resulting from speculative financial instruments. As the recovery was nearly finished in 2015, the crime rates also started to rise. The next data point to see whether a recession has an impact on crime rates in America is the recent coronavirus recession. This recession was different from the previous one since it also involved social distancing measures which somewhat limited the way in which crime could be committed. However, proximity proved to be a crucial factor in a surge in domestic violence too as people were forced to stay indoors and close to each other for extended time periods. For statistics about the most dangerous cities in America in terms of violent crime, more details are available at 25 Most Dangerous Cities in the US.
Building on this, technology is also providing law enforcers with the ability to improve their ability to respond to, prevent, and fight violent crime. A cool device that helps investigators with their job in crime scene reproduction is a FARO laser scanner. This scanner is one of the few devices in the world that is capable of producing 3D illustrations of a crime scene, which provides detectives with the ability to see the crime scene from multiple perspectives, including those of the perpetrator. It also helps them build a stronger case in court, and multiple U.S. government departments have forked out millions of dollars for this technology.
Another firm, and one that is bringing artificial intelligence to the crime fighting scene is Veritone, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERI). In a rather futuristic take, the firm offers an AI powered facial recognition system to law enforcement agencies. This system allows police and others to use video footage for searching faces in a database of known offenders; filter down potential criminals based on physical features such as height; share data with other law enforcement agencies; create a centralized database based on various parameters; and, streamline evidence organize on a case by case basis.
While Vertione's crime fighting tools are purely software, SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) is taking the fight to the streets. Its system is designed to be placed in neighborhoods and other areas, for continuous monitoring for potential gunshot sounds. Any potential incidents are sifted using algorithms and are manually verified before alerting police.
So, which are the most dangerous states in the U.S. as of 2023? Read on below to find out!
25 Most Dangerous States in USA in 2023
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the most dangerous American states, we used data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The latest data, released in March 2023, covers assault, homicide, human trafficking, kidnapping, and sexual offenses for 2021 and consolidates data collected from close to twelve thousand reporting agencies. Since absolute figures bias the ranking in favor of highly populated areas, the total crimes are divided by the latest population estimates from the Census Bureau to calculate a crime rate per person. Based on this, the 25 most dangerous states in the U.S. are as follows. On a side note, while it is not a state, the District of Columbia is nevertheless included since it ranks in the top ten.
25 Most Dangerous States in USA in 2023
25. Washington
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0106
Washington is located at the Northwestern tip of the continental United States. It is one of the most populous states in America, housing close to eight million people.
24. Kentucky
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0108
Kentucky is a Southeastern state known for its caves. Its median household income is $52,295 and it is a hub for beef and corn production in the U.S.
23. Utah
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0111
Utah is one of the more prosperous regions in America, with a median household income of $60,365. It is known for being one of the most charitable states in America.
22. Georgia
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0113
Georgia is another Southeastern state and it ranks among the top ten most populous regions in America. It houses a variety of Fortune 500 companies such as UPS, Home Depot, and Delta Air.
21. Virginia
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0118
Virginia houses close to nine million people and is quite prosperous with a high median household income of $80,615. Consequently, it also has low levels of poverty.
20. Colorado
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0121
Colorado is a Western landlocked state. It houses important military facilities and is also known for its vast natural gas reserves.
19. Louisiana
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0123
Louisiana is a Southern state that ranks quite low in prosperity since it has a median household income of $49,973. It does have lower personal income tax brackets though, and the state also has one of the largest ports in the U.S.
18. Kansas
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0128
Kansas is a Midwestern state with roughly three million people living in its borders. It has a vibrant agricultural economy and produces copious amounts of wheat.
17. Ohio
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0132
While Ohio is one of the smaller states in terms of area, its population of 11.7 million makes it one of the ten largest in the U.S.
16. New Mexico
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0133
New Mexico is one of the least densely populated regions in America, as its 2.1 million people have access to a vast area measuring more than 120 thousand square miles.
15. North Carolina
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0134
North Carolina ranks 15th on our list of the most dangerous states in America. North Carolina is a Southeastern state with a population of roughly 11 million people. It has a vibrant textile industry and generates copious electricity through water.
14. Missouri
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0136
Missouri is a landlocked state with a median household income of $53,578. It has a diversified economy made up of industrial and agricultural production.
13. Alabama
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0140
Alabama has a population of five million people. It has a strong presence of the aerospace industry owning to crucial NASA facilities in Huntsville.
12. Montana
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0142
Montana is another North Western state which is one of the largest in the U.S. in terms of area. However, it has a population of just 1.1 million, making it quite sparsely populated.
11. South Dakota
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0146
South Dakota houses less than a million people. The military, services and agriculture are key contributors to its economy.
10. District of Columbia
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0152
District of Columbia, or Washington D.C., is America's capital but its lack of statehood often creates quite a bit of controversy.
9. Oklahoma
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0155
Oklahoma ranks low in terms of median household income, which stood at $50,051 in 2022.
8. Texas
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0155
Texas is a hub of the oil industry in the U.S. These days, it is also famous for being the testing site of SpaceX's Starship rocket - the largest of its kind.
7. Michigan
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0161
Michigan is one of the Northernmost states in the U.S. It has a ten million population and has a strong presence of the automobile industry.
6. Delaware
Violent Crime Rate: 0.0164
Delaware ranks at the bottom of the barrel both in terms of area and population. However, it ranks high when it comes to median household income, which sits at $69,100.
