Kansas City among top 10 most dangerous cities in U.S., new ranking says
A major national media publication lists Kansas City on its ranking of most dangerous cities in the United States.
U.S. News and World Report has Kansas City listed as number eight on a list of 25 most dangerous places for 2024-2025. The company determined its rankings using FBI crime reports of each city’s murder and property crime rates per 100,000 people, according to the site.
Kansas City’s homicide rate is a perennial problem highlighted by media and public officials. Over the past three years, the majority of killings have stemmed from arguments between individuals or groups of people, according to Kansas City Police Department data.
Petty arguments and retaliatory violence are also leading variables in the city’s killings.
In 2025, an unusual number of homicides are from domestic violence situations. In the first three months of 2025, the city saw the same number of domestic violence homicides as all of last year, 12.
Kansas City set a record high number of homicides in 2023, when 185 killings were recorded in the city. In 2024, homicides took a dip (147) but the number of nonfatal shootings in KC soared.
Meanwhile, homicide rates in other major cities across the country have dropped, including in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit.
KC crime prevention efforts
As of April 17, Kansas City has recorded 44 homicides this year, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.
Crime statistics have fluctuated over the years in Kansas City as police and city leaders took on programs aiming at crime prevention.
A new effort launched last year called SAVE KC, stands for “Stand Against Violence, Everyone/ Everywhere/ Every Day.” It works by using a focused deterrence model, identifying those most likely to commit and be victims of violent crimes, then providing them messaging and resources to transition out of cycles of violence.
Similar focused deterrence models have proven effective in reducing and preventing violent crime in metropolitan areas of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Boston, Chicago and Cincinnati.
Report ranks top 10 dangerous places
Two other Missouri cities appeared on the dangerous U.S. cities list: St. Louis (no. 2) and Springfield (no. 14).
Here are the top 10 most dangerous places in the U.S., according to the U.S. News and World Report ranking:
- Memphis, TN
- St. Louis, MO
- Detroit, MI
- Birmingham, AL
- Little Rock, AR
- New Orleans, LA
- Cleveland, OH
- Kansas City, MO
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- Denver, CO
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM.
