The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Mississippi
Mississippi is home to 2.95 million residents; Jackson is both its capital and its largest city · Updated November 2026
Is Mississippi safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Mississippi: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 69% of Americans live. It ranks 14th safest of the 50 states and Washington, DC. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Mississippi run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe counties and cities below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 905 of 1,00014th safest of the 50 states and DCi What this means
69% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Mississippi as a whole, and 31% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Mississippi scores 905.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Mississippi at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Mississippi, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Mississippi
Murders run above the US rate. Mississippi has less crime than the US as a whole, 16% below the US rate, but more murders: 0.08 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.05 nationally.
Robbery runs low. Mississippi has 0.22 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 0.62.
The safest and most dangerous counties and cities in Mississippi
Low crime is the norm across Mississippi: 90% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 6% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Mississippi run from A+ to F; 72% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
90%
A or B 90%C 4%D or F 6%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
All 82 counties, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Cities of 10,000 or more residents, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Crime rates and types in Mississippi
CrimeGrade™ estimates Mississippi has about 31 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 16% less than the US as a whole.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Assault is the most common crime in Mississippi, about 38% of everything reported, but murder costs more, because each one does far more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Mississippi compares with nearby states
Mississippi has the least crime of its 10 nearest states.
Two things set Mississippi apart: it has 4% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 12.8% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places where few residents live in dense blocks tend to report less robbery and car theft, and they run low here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 99% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.12.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Mississippi: F (1 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 99% of Americans
Show all 4
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.50% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 98% of Americans
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Mississippi
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Mississippi about $1,109 a year per household, 8% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $1.28 billion a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $4.92 billion a year, or $1,671 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$451 million
$153
Rape
$53 million
$18
Robbery
$20 million
$7
Assault
$362 million
$123
Burglary
$68 million
$23
Theft
$152 million
$52
Vehicle theft
$71 million
$24
Arson
$17 million
$6
Vandalism
$90 million
$31
Total
$1.28 billion
$436
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Mississippi means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Mississippi average a SchoolGrade of C+: 52% of students test proficient, against 35% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Mississippi on SchoolGrade
