Missouri is home to 6.19 million residents; Jefferson City is its capital and Kansas City its largest city · Updated November 2026
Is Missouri safe?
Yes, crime in Missouri is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Missouri sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 53% of Americans live. It ranks 25th safest of the 50 states and Washington, DC. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Missouri run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe counties and cities below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 852 of 1,00025th safest of the 50 states and DCi What this means
53% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Missouri as a whole, and 47% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Missouri scores 852.
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 Missouri at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Missouri, 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 Missouri
Crime per resident runs higher than the grade. Missouri draws many workers, shoppers and visitors: it has 46 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Crimes against them are counted against the few who live here, so crime per resident looks higher than the CrimeGrade™ suggests. The CrimeGrade™ counts everyone who spends time here.
The safest and most dangerous counties and cities in Missouri
Low crime is the norm across Missouri: 83% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 11% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Missouri run from A+ to F; 62% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
83%11%
A or B 83%C 6%D or F 11%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
All 115 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.
Is crime going up in Missouri?
Reported violent crime in Missouri peaked in 2020 and has fallen 14% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 25% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.1 to 4.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 27 to 20 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
MissouriUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Missouri. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Missouri
Violent, US
Property, Missouri
Property, US
2016
+2%
+4%
+5%
+15%
2017
+5%
+4%
+7%
+12%
2018
-1%
+0%
-0%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+9%
+4%
-4%
-8%
2021
+6%
+6%
-11%
-10%
2022
-1%
+5%
-9%
-6%
2023
-6%
+2%
-18%
-7%
2024
-7%
-4%
-25%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Missouri
CrimeGrade™ estimates Missouri has about 42 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 13% more 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 Missouri, about 33% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
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.
Where and when crime happens in Missouri
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Missouri, 2022 to 2024.
In Missouri, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 35% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Missouri compares with nearby states
Of the 10 states closest to Missouri, 8 have less crime. Iowa and Nebraska have the least.
One thing sets Missouri apart: it has 9% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet robbery and car theft run higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.8.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 86% 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 Missouri: F (5 of 100).2 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.9% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 79% 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.71% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 76% of Americans
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Missouri on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more. Its Walk Grade for Missouri is D (14 of 100).
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 Missouri
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Missouri about $1,438 a year per household, 19% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $3.57 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 $12.87 billion a year, or $2,078 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$907 million
$146
Rape
$171 million
$28
Robbery
$100 million
$16
Assault
$1.10 billion
$177
Burglary
$140 million
$23
Theft
$430 million
$69
Vehicle theft
$390 million
$63
Arson
$20 million
$3
Vandalism
$309 million
$50
Total
$3.57 billion
$576
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 Missouri 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 Missouri average a SchoolGrade of C+: 42% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Missouri on SchoolGrade
