Top 100 Most Dangerous Cities in New York 2024 (FBI Data)

Quick answer

According to crimebycity.com's analysis of FBI 2024 crime data, the most dangerous city in New York is Syracuse, NY with a total crime rate of 4,999.5 per 100,000 residents. These 100 cities average 2,155 per 100,000 — 0.8x the national average of 2,752.

Avg Violent Crime Rate

238

0.5x avg

per 100K (these cities)

Avg Murder Rate

2.5

0.4x avg

per 100K (national: 6.2)

Avg Property Crime Rate

1,917

per 100K (these cities)

Crime Hotspots in New York (2024)

These 100 cities reported the highest crime rates in New York. On average, they experience 0.8x the national crime rate, with violent crime averaging 238 per 100,000 (national average: 473).

Syracuse, NY tops the list with a total crime rate of 4,999 per 100,000 — 1.8x the national average. Its violent crime rate of 765 per 100K is 1.6x the national average.

Key Findings: 2024 Highest Crime Rates

The city with the highest crime rate in New York, Syracuse, NY, reports 4,999 crimes per 100K residents — 1.8x the national average. The city ranked #100 on this list, Beacon (NY), has a rate of 766, still significantly above the national average of 2,752.

Both violent and property crime contribute to these elevated rates. The average murder rate across these cities is 2.5 per 100K (0.4x national average), while property crime averages 1,917 per 100K. In many of these cities, property crime accounts for the majority of total offenses, though the violent crime rate draws the most attention.

It's important to note that citywide statistics can be misleading. Crime is rarely distributed evenly — most cities have neighborhoods that are quite safe alongside areas with concentrated challenges. A high citywide rate doesn't mean every resident faces equal risk. Individual city pages provide additional context including year-over-year trends.

On our Safety Score scale (1–100, where 50 is the national average), these cities average 43/100, with the highest-crime city scoring 4/100. These scores reflect the combined impact of both violent and property crime relative to national norms. Cities with scores below 20 have crime rates more than 1.6 times the national average.

Understanding These Crime Rates

The 100 cities with the highest crime rates in New York average 2,155 total crimes per 100,000 residents — 0.8x the national average of 2,752. Violent crime is particularly elevated at 238 per 100K, which is 0.5x the national violent crime rate.

The median city on this list — Saratoga Springs, NY — reports a crime rate of 1,902 per 100K. 80 of these cities have populations under 50,000, where even a small number of incidents can significantly affect the per-capita rate.

Context matters when interpreting these numbers. High crime rates often correlate with socioeconomic factors including poverty, unemployment, and inequality rather than reflecting the character of residents. Crime reporting practices also vary — cities with well-funded police departments tend to record more incidents. NY has 100 cities on this list.

Full Rankings

#	City	State	Coverage	Total Crime Rate	Violent Crime Rate	Murder Rate	vs National
1	Syracuse	NY	145,175	4,999.5	765.3	15.2	+82%
2	Elmira	NY	26,130	4,684.3	547.3	3.8	+70%
3	Watertown	NY	24,029	4,527.9	599.3	0.0	+65%
4	Buffalo	NY	273,728	4,516.5	706.9	12.4	+64%
5	Johnson City Village	NY	14,748	4,319.2	325.5	0.0	+57%
6	Olean	NY	13,564	4,136.0	346.5	0.0	+50%
7	Binghamton	NY	46,378	3,948.0	534.7	6.5	+43%
8	Oswego	NY	17,058	3,892.6	340.0	5.9	+41%
9	Oneida	NY	10,021	3,871.9	399.2	0.0	+41%
10	Rochester	NY	206,093	3,871.6	582.3	13.1	+41%
11	Schenectady	NY	68,610	3,775.0	645.7	10.2	+37%
12	Dewitt Town	NY	25,054	3,759.9	211.5	0.0	+37%
13	Albany	NY	102,095	3,665.2	816.9	8.8	+33%
14	Colonie Town	NY	81,226	3,558.0	113.3	0.0	+29%
15	New Hartford Town	NY	20,546	3,518.9	107.1	0.0	+28%
16	Utica	NY	63,098	3,477.1	527.8	7.9	+26%
17	Cheektowaga Town	NY	78,864	3,426.2	206.7	2.5	+24%
18	Ithaca	NY	33,646	3,412.0	196.2	3.0	+24%
19	Niagara Falls	NY	47,296	3,309.0	501.1	6.3	+20%
20	Troy	NY	50,372	3,243.9	470.5	2.0	+18%
21	Endicott Village	NY	13,072	3,182.4	290.7	0.0	+16%
22	Cortland	NY	17,197	3,180.8	226.8	0.0	+16%
23	Gates Town	NY	28,603	3,122.1	157.3	0.0	+13%
24	Geneva	NY	12,289	3,108.5	301.1	0.0	+13%
25	New York City	NY	8,299,271	3,039.7	671.4	3.9	+10%
26	Jamestown	NY	27,735	2,938.5	623.8	18.0	+7%
27	Newburgh City	NY	28,061	2,900.8	983.6	10.7	+5%
28	Poughkeepsie Town	NY	40,746	2,765.9	176.7	0.0	+0%
29	Vestal Town	NY	32,289	2,663.5	46.5	0.0	+-3%
30	Riverhead Town	NY	35,693	2,625.2	100.9	2.8	+-5%
31	Corning	NY	10,621	2,542.1	160.1	0.0	+-8%
32	Spring Valley Village	NY	32,973	2,532.4	360.9	3.0	+-8%
33	Watervliet	NY	10,108	2,483.2	356.2	9.9	+-10%
34	Newburgh Town	NY	31,634	2,478.4	110.6	0.0	+-10%
35	Massena Village	NY	10,028	2,303.6	149.6	10.0	+-16%
36	Rome	NY	31,577	2,292.8	237.5	0.0	+-17%
37	Poughkeepsie	NY	31,843	2,279.9	643.8	6.3	+-17%
38	Brighton Town	NY	35,835	2,204.6	78.1	0.0	+-20%
39	Niskayuna Town	NY	23,797	2,197.8	84.0	0.0	+-20%
40	Dunkirk	NY	12,348	2,194.7	275.4	0.0	+-20%
41	Batavia	NY	15,400	2,181.8	376.6	0.0	+-21%
42	Amherst Town	NY	126,184	2,161.9	103.8	0.0	+-21%
43	Greece Town	NY	93,943	2,035.3	141.6	0.0	+-26%
44	Geddes Town	NY	10,158	2,018.1	98.4	0.0	+-27%
45	Ulster Town	NY	12,590	2,017.5	79.4	0.0	+-27%
46	Mount Vernon	NY	70,390	2,003.1	544.1	2.8	+-27%
47	Kingston	NY	23,704	1,995.4	350.2	4.2	+-27%
48	Plattsburgh	NY	19,883	1,976.6	130.8	0.0	+-28%
49	Lackawanna	NY	19,484	1,955.5	395.2	5.1	+-29%
50	Clarkstown Town	NY	80,087	1,922.9	94.9	0.0	+-30%
51	Saratoga Springs	NY	28,546	1,902.2	185.7	3.5	+-31%
52	White Plains	NY	61,923	1,871.7	111.4	1.6	+-32%
53	Irondequoit Town	NY	49,336	1,868.8	131.8	10.1	+-32%
54	West Seneca Town	NY	44,982	1,834.1	124.5	2.2	+-33%
55	Guilderland Town	NY	35,409	1,765.1	110.1	0.0	+-36%
56	Canandaigua	NY	10,461	1,739.8	248.5	0.0	+-37%
57	Dobbs Ferry Village	NY	11,254	1,697.2	284.3	0.0	+-38%
58	Tonawanda Town	NY	56,110	1,694.9	82.0	0.0	+-38%
59	Depew Village	NY	14,805	1,688.6	141.8	0.0	+-39%
60	Rotterdam Town	NY	30,518	1,687.5	39.3	0.0	+-39%
61	Kenmore Village	NY	14,830	1,672.3	141.6	0.0	+-39%
62	Gloversville	NY	14,767	1,598.2	250.6	0.0	+-42%
63	Auburn	NY	25,699	1,587.6	245.2	0.0	+-42%
64	Hempstead Village	NY	58,013	1,556.6	458.5	5.2	+-43%
65	Hamburg Town	NY	47,687	1,545.5	54.5	2.1	+-44%
66	Middletown	NY	30,110	1,514.5	308.9	6.6	+-45%
67	North Greenbush Town	NY	13,240	1,472.8	68.0	0.0	+-46%
68	East Greenbush Town	NY	16,371	1,466.0	116.1	0.0	+-47%
69	Mamaroneck Village	NY	19,356	1,379.4	108.5	0.0	+-50%
70	Amsterdam	NY	18,059	1,334.5	99.7	5.5	+-52%
71	Yonkers	NY	206,557	1,326.5	311.8	1.9	+-52%
72	Tonawanda	NY	14,825	1,301.9	168.6	13.5	+-53%
73	Manlius Town	NY	25,064	1,300.7	47.9	0.0	+-53%
74	Cohoes	NY	18,240	1,288.4	186.4	0.0	+-53%
75	Fulton	NY	11,207	1,284.9	196.3	0.0	+-53%
76	North Tonawanda	NY	29,898	1,240.9	153.9	0.0	+-55%
77	New Rochelle	NY	84,960	1,239.4	134.2	0.0	+-55%
78	Glenville Town	NY	22,040	1,216.0	72.6	4.5	+-56%
79	Peekskill	NY	25,484	1,181.1	208.0	3.9	+-57%
80	Wallkill Town	NY	31,330	1,165.0	51.1	0.0	+-58%
81	Evans Town	NY	15,049	1,162.9	93.0	0.0	+-58%
82	Freeport Village	NY	43,583	1,078.4	162.9	2.3	+-61%
83	Orchard Park Town	NY	29,778	1,071.3	67.2	0.0	+-61%
84	Haverstraw Town	NY	38,750	1,042.6	157.4	0.0	+-62%
85	Port Chester Village	NY	30,260	1,041.0	76.0	0.0	+-62%
86	Cicero Town	NY	28,678	1,032.2	45.3	0.0	+-62%
87	Lloyd Town	NY	11,090	1,000.9	81.2	0.0	+-64%
88	Lancaster Town	NY	39,290	1,000.3	43.3	0.0	+-64%
89	Bethlehem Town	NY	34,933	996.2	34.4	2.9	+-64%
90	Webster Town	NY	45,084	967.1	57.7	0.0	+-65%
91	Southold Town	NY	21,344	946.4	51.5	0.0	+-66%
92	New Windsor Town	NY	27,811	938.5	97.1	0.0	+-66%
93	North Castle Town	NY	11,928	922.2	134.1	0.0	+-66%
94	Suffern Village	NY	11,317	874.8	123.7	0.0	+-68%
95	Glens Falls	NY	14,416	818.5	159.5	0.0	+-70%
96	Southampton Town	NY	59,965	817.1	58.4	0.0	+-70%
97	Garden City Village	NY	22,857	813.8	26.3	0.0	+-70%
98	Oneonta	NY	16,232	813.2	80.1	0.0	+-70%
99	Camillus Town And Village	NY	25,096	804.9	51.8	0.0	+-71%
100	Beacon	NY	15,267	766.4	111.4	6.6	+-72%

More Rankings

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How These Rankings Are Calculated

These rankings are based on data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, which collects crime statistics from law enforcement agencies nationwide. We use the most recent available data (2024) and include only cities with a population of 25,000 or more to ensure statistical reliability — small towns with very few incidents can produce misleadingly extreme rates.

Cities are ranked by total crime rate per 100,000 residents, which combines both violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson). Using per-capita rates rather than raw counts ensures fair comparison regardless of city size. The 100 cities listed here represent a combined population of 12,199,083 residents.

For a full explanation of our data sources, safety score formula, and methodology, visit our methodology page.

What the Numbers Mean

Crime statistics can be difficult to interpret without context. A total crime rate of 2,000 per 100,000 means that in a city of 100,000 people, approximately 2,000 crimes were reported to police in a given year. This includes everything from petty theft to violent assault. Not all crimes are reported, so actual rates may be higher — the FBI estimates that roughly half of violent crimes and a third of property crimes go unreported.

For the highest-crime cities on this list, the average total crime rate of 2,155 per 100K means roughly 2.2% of the population experiences a reported crime annually. The violent crime rate of 238 per 100K translates to about 0.2% of residents — or roughly 1 in 419 — though crime is not evenly distributed across neighborhoods.

Our Safety Score simplifies these numbers into a single 1–100 scale. A score of 50 equals the national average, and every 10 points above or below represents a meaningful difference in risk. The score accounts for both violent and property crime, weighted by their per-capita rates against national benchmarks.

When using these rankings for decisions about relocation, travel, or investment, consider consulting multiple data points: crime trends over time (available on each city's individual page), the specific types of crime most prevalent in each area, neighborhood-level variation, and quality-of-life factors beyond crime statistics. No single number tells the complete story of any community, but per-capita rates from a verified source like the FBI provide the most objective starting point available.

Violent Crime vs Property Crime

In these 100 highest-crime cities, both violent and property crime exceed national norms substantially. The average violent crime rate of 238 per 100K is 0.5x the national average, while property crime averages 1,917 per 100K. Aggravated assault is typically the most common violent crime, followed by robbery, while larceny-theft dominates property crime categories.

The distinction matters because violent and property crime have different impacts on daily life and different underlying causes. Violent crime tends to concentrate in specific neighborhoods and time periods, often linked to interpersonal disputes, drug markets, or gang activity. Property crime is more widely distributed geographically. Understanding which type of crime drives a city's ranking provides more actionable information than the total rate alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most dangerous city in New York?

Syracuse, NY has the highest crime rate in New York at 4,999.5 per 100,000 residents in 2024.

What makes a city dangerous?

High crime rates, particularly violent crime, indicate elevated risk. Cities on this list average a violent crime rate of 238 per 100K — 0.5x the national average of 473.

Is the crime rate getting worse?

Crime trends vary by city. Some cities on this list have seen decreasing rates in recent years while others have increased. Visit individual city pages for year-over-year trend data.

Are these cities always dangerous?

No. Crime rates fluctuate year to year, and many cities on this list have seen improvements over time. These rankings reflect 2024 data specifically. Visit individual city pages to see multi-year trends and whether crime is rising or falling in each location.

What types of crime drive these rankings?

Rankings are based on total crime rate, which includes both violent and property crime. Among these 100 cities, the average violent crime rate is 238 per 100K (0.5x the national average) and the average property crime rate is 1,917 per 100K. Property crime is typically more common, but violent crime carries greater weight in public perception.

How 2024 Compares to Previous Years

High-crime cities often show more volatility in their year-to-year statistics than the national average. Some cities on this list have seen significant improvements in recent years due to targeted policing strategies, community investment programs, or economic development. Others continue to face persistent challenges. National trends in violent crime, drug trafficking, and economic inequality all influence which cities appear on this list from year to year.

To see whether a specific city on this list is improving or worsening, click its name in the table above to view detailed trend charts covering multiple years. A city with a high current rate but a strong downward trend tells a very different story than one with a rising trajectory. We encourage using these trends alongside the current snapshot when forming conclusions about any community's safety profile.

Geographic Distribution

The 100 cities with the highest crime rates span 1 states. NY (100 cities). The concentration of high-crime cities in certain states often reflects broader regional challenges including economic inequality, urbanization patterns, and historical factors.

City sizes on this list vary considerably, from smaller cities around 25,000 to major metros. 80 cities have populations under 50,000, where a relatively small number of incidents can disproportionately affect per-capita rates. The combined population of these 100 cities is 12,199,083.

Most Dangerous Cities in New York