What is the #1 most dangerous cities in north carolina?

Wadesboro ranks #1 with 20.37 (crime rate per 1k).

What are the top 5 most dangerous cities in north carolina?

1. Wadesboro (20.37), 2. Laurinburg (18.94), 3. Plymouth (18.62), 4. Henderson (17.92), 5. Lumberton (16.77)

How many cities in North Carolina are ranked?

This ranking includes 263 cities in North Carolina with available data.

Most Dangerous Cities in North Carolina (2026)

Wadesboro is the #1 ranked city in North Carolina with 20.37 (crime rate per 1k). This ranking includes 263 North Carolina cities with available data.

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All 263 Cities Ranked

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer

#	City	Population	Crime Rate per 1K
1	Wadesboro	4,966	20.37
2	Laurinburg	15,079	18.94
3	Plymouth	3,264	18.62
4	Henderson	14,922	17.92
5	Lumberton	19,220	16.77
6	Enfield	1,967	13.88
7	Farmville	4,493	13.77
8	Scotland Neck	2,087	11.74
9	Williamston	5,157	11.61
10	Goldsboro	33,448	10.76
11	Selma	6,611	10.49
12	Shelby	21,868	10.44
13	Fairmont	2,326	10.42
14	Roxboro	8,144	10.08
15	Kinston	19,576	9.74
16	Statesville	29,161	9.69
17	Salisbury	35,730	9.60
18	Burlington	58,599	9.56
19	Pembroke	2,823	9.52
20	Claremont	2,051	9.36
21	Greensboro	298,564	9.24
22	Murphy	1,356	9.07
23	Dunn	8,512	9.04
24	Roanoke Rapids	15,024	8.97
25	Red Springs	3,107	8.86
26	Gastonia	81,632	8.49
27	Oxford	8,897	8.41
28	Winston-Salem	250,887	8.10
29	Asheville	94,369	7.96
30	Hamlet	6,000	7.93
31	Atlantic Beach	1,705	7.76
32	Elizabethtown	3,294	7.71
33	Rocky Mount	54,175	7.65
34	Wilson's Mills	2,652	7.55
35	Benson	4,144	7.49
36	Pineville	10,780	7.24
37	Ahoskie	4,798	6.99
38	Pinetops	1,323	6.77
39	Tarboro	10,705	6.68
40	Marshville	2,586	6.66
41	Monroe	35,596	6.63
42	Fayetteville	209,692	6.61
43	Kings Mountain	11,472	6.48
44	St. Pauls	2,628	6.36
45	Durham	288,465	6.21
46	Hertford	1,703	6.16
47	Rockingham	9,094	6.15
48	Star	1,430	6.07
49	Bryson City	1,676	6.02
50	Reidsville	14,547	5.97
51	Wilson	47,740	5.79
52	Albemarle	16,527	5.73
53	Clinton	8,336	5.66
54	Murfreesboro	2,814	5.59
55	Lillington	4,683	5.47
56	Spring Lake	11,613	5.41
57	Elkin	4,025	5.40
58	Whiteville	4,721	5.37
59	Chocowinity	1,090	5.35
60	Wingate	4,169	5.32
61	Forest City	7,368	5.28
62	Beulaville	1,438	5.24
63	Washington	9,754	5.20
64	Sylva	2,600	5.19
65	Sharpsburg	1,629	5.13
66	Haw River	2,581	5.04
67	Waynesville	10,408	4.99
68	Smithfield	11,798	4.90
69	Raleigh	470,763	4.89
70	Wilmington	118,578	4.85
71	Siler City	7,905	4.79
72	High Point	115,263	4.57
73	Bessemer City	5,508	4.57
74	Maggie Valley	2,311	4.57
75	Greenville	88,540	4.53
76	Windsor	3,417	4.44
77	East Spencer	1,309	4.38
78	Lexington	19,691	4.37
79	Erwin	4,617	4.36
80	Asheboro	27,353	4.24
81	Hope Mills	17,823	4.20
82	Morganton	17,541	4.16
83	Eden	15,353	4.12
84	Hickory	43,747	4.10
85	Clyde	1,522	4.01
86	Wallace	3,438	4.01
87	Newton	13,223	4.01
88	Chadbourn	1,347	3.90
89	Conover	8,491	3.87
90	Rockwell	2,688	3.86
91	Belmont	15,140	3.83
92	Edenton	4,480	3.78
93	Hillsborough	9,656	3.78
94	Long View	4,967	3.69
95	Southern Pines	16,052	3.69
96	Garner	32,543	3.65
97	New Bern	31,563	3.63
98	Morehead City	9,696	3.61
99	Lincolnton	11,503	3.61
100	Louisburg	3,128	3.59
101	Wilkesboro	3,664	3.56
102	Andrews	1,976	3.51
103	Graham	17,537	3.46
104	Elizabeth City	18,740	3.41
105	Ranlo	4,556	3.39
106	Carolina Beach	6,665	3.33
107	Thomasville	27,261	3.31
108	Warsaw	2,728	3.29
109	Zebulon	7,961	3.28
110	Shallotte	4,465	3.24
111	Creedmoor	4,957	3.16
112	Mount Airy	10,631	3.12
113	Jacksonville	73,507	3.11
114	Mebane	18,899	3.06
115	Beaufort	4,613	3.05
116	Mount Olive	4,204	3.04
117	Tabor City	3,695	3.03
118	Burnsville	2,143	3.02
119	Troy	2,905	3.02
120	Spencer	3,305	3.01
121	Yadkinville	2,986	2.98
122	Rutherfordton	3,669	2.97
123	Surf City	4,160	2.93
124	Boiling Spring Lakes	6,206	2.90
125	Newport	4,428	2.87
126	Belhaven	1,421	2.86
127	Franklinton	2,562	2.85
128	Brevard	7,795	2.68
129	Hendersonville	15,253	2.63
130	Mocksville	6,001	2.63
131	Kenansville	1,157	2.62
132	Lenoir	18,282	2.58
133	Butner	7,996	2.57
134	Dallas	6,012	2.57
135	Mars Hill	2,738	2.57
136	Nags Head	3,164	2.56
137	North Wilkesboro	4,348	2.54
138	Ayden	5,035	2.54
139	Franklin	4,221	2.51
140	Aberdeen	8,969	2.45
141	Kitty Hawk	3,721	2.42
142	Marion	7,594	2.42
143	Grifton	2,661	2.40
144	Maxton	2,398	2.36
145	Robersonville	1,319	2.30
146	Kernersville	27,439	2.28
147	Cleveland	1,053	2.25
148	Sanford	30,833	2.22
149	Mooresville	51,447	2.19
150	Kill Devil Hills	7,727	2.17
151	Coats	2,029	2.17
152	Dobson	1,521	2.16
153	Biscoe	2,259	2.16
154	Pilot Mountain	1,584	2.10
155	Wrightsville Beach	2,679	2.08
156	Havelock	16,471	2.05
157	Snow Hill	2,102	2.04
158	Granite Falls	4,921	2.04
159	Burgaw	3,249	1.98
160	Knightdale	19,532	1.95
161	Randleman	4,611	1.93
162	Bladenboro	2,181	1.88
163	Matthews	29,959	1.85
164	Carrboro	21,170	1.81
165	Gibsonville	9,289	1.77
166	Carthage	2,840	1.76
167	Woodfin	7,957	1.74
168	Cherryville	6,154	1.73
169	Troutman	3,813	1.73
170	Chapel Hill	59,889	1.72
171	Jonesville	2,782	1.72
172	Mount Gilead	1,166	1.71
173	Ramseur	2,061	1.69
174	Clayton	28,043	1.68
175	Kannapolis	56,470	1.68
176	Boonville	1,502	1.66
177	Navassa	2,148	1.63
178	Concord	106,518	1.61
179	Canton	4,417	1.58
180	Four Oaks	2,372	1.52
181	Spring Hope	1,334	1.52
182	Angier	5,746	1.52
183	China Grove	4,487	1.52
184	Stoneville	1,213	1.50
185	Emerald Isle	3,915	1.50
186	Wake Forest	51,199	1.47
187	Huntersville	62,458	1.43
188	Wendell	11,585	1.35
189	Lowell	3,711	1.30
190	Tryon	1,713	1.23
191	Stanley	4,014	1.23
192	Jefferson	1,852	1.22
193	Manteo	1,853	1.21
194	Rose Hill	1,501	1.20
195	Magnolia	1,109	1.16
196	Archdale	11,992	1.15
197	Lake Royale	2,959	1.12
198	Raeford	4,545	1.10
199	Cramerton	5,376	1.08
200	Mount Holly	17,928	1.08
201	Sunset Beach	4,326	1.07
202	Valdese	4,689	1.06
203	Holden Beach	1,047	1.06
204	Cornelius	32,009	1.04
205	Pittsboro	4,640	1.01
206	Mint Hill	26,954	0.99
207	Morrisville	30,471	0.99
208	Granite Quarry	3,015	0.98
209	Leland	26,307	0.96
210	Vass	1,092	0.96
211	Spruce Pine	2,381	0.91
212	Boone	19,534	0.90
213	Southport	4,143	0.89
214	Maiden	3,777	0.88
215	Cape Carteret	2,598	0.88
216	Winterville	10,624	0.82
217	Richlands	2,387	0.81
218	Mayodan	2,446	0.81
219	Holly Springs	43,429	0.81
220	King	7,345	0.78
221	Elon	11,325	0.78
222	West Jefferson	1,567	0.75
223	Liberty	2,678	0.74
224	Weldon	1,522	0.73
225	Fletcher	8,022	0.73
226	Lake Lure	1,488	0.72
227	Cary	176,686	0.72
228	Fuquay-Varina	37,749	0.70
229	Weaverville	4,618	0.63
230	Bethel	1,528	0.61
231	Oak Island	8,888	0.61
232	Pinehurst	17,992	0.59
233	Waxhaw	21,565	0.59
234	Black Mountain	8,462	0.58
235	Holly Ridge	4,532	0.54
236	Hudson	3,777	0.53
237	Apex	67,765	0.53
238	Stallings	16,495	0.51
239	Swansboro	3,887	0.47
240	Madison	2,198	0.46
241	Laurel Park	2,391	0.43
242	Davidson	14,852	0.42
243	Nashville	5,672	0.36
244	Rolesville	10,200	0.34
245	Southern Shores	3,119	0.32
246	Whispering Pines	5,081	0.00
247	Biltmore Forest	1,536	0.00
248	Taylorsville	2,386	0.00
249	Trent Woods	4,086	0.00
250	Broadway	1,429	0.00
251	Candor	1,284	0.00
252	Columbus	1,166	0.00
253	Drexel	1,862	0.00
254	Pine Level	2,072	0.00
255	Middlesex	1,005	0.00
256	Banner Elk	1,338	0.00
257	Robbins	1,398	0.00
258	Pinebluff	1,723	0.00
259	Highlands	1,276	0.00
260	Princeton	1,543	0.00
261	Foxfire	1,730	0.00
262	Youngsville	2,581	0.00
263	Pine Knoll Shores	1,387	0.00

Methodology

Cities in North Carolina are ranked by crime rate per 1k. Only cities with populations above 1,000 are included. Data sourced from FBI Crime Data Explorer. Last updated 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the #1 most dangerous cities in north carolina?: Wadesboro ranks #1 with 20.37 (crime rate per 1k).
What are the top 5 most dangerous cities in north carolina?: 1. Wadesboro (20.37), 2. Laurinburg (18.94), 3. Plymouth (18.62), 4. Henderson (17.92), 5. Lumberton (16.77)
How many cities in North Carolina are ranked?: This ranking includes 263 cities in North Carolina with available data.

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