The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Michigan For 2021

The Most Dangerous Cities In Michigan For 2021

1. Benton Township
2. Muskegon Heights
3. Detroit
4. Kalamazoo
5. Jackson
6. Lansing Township
7. Three Rivers
8. Benton Harbor
9. Highland Park
10. Ypsilanti

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Michigan For 2021

When it comes to Michigan's most dangerous places, it's hard to top Benton Township.

The township had the highest property crime rate in Michigan for 2019, with residents facing a 1 in 17 chance of having their property stolen or damaged. In other words, make sure you still have all your valuables after a day out at Silver Beach.

Benton Township doesn't exactly get a pass on violent crime either -- in fact, the rate of rape cases here is third highest in Michigan.

Benton Township is located on Lake Michigan in southwestern part of the state.

Muskegon Heights had the #1.0 spot on this list last year, so getting to the #2 spot represents a bit of progress in the crime department. Still, Muskegon Heights is the most violent place in Michigan, according to the FBI data, and total crime rate was nearly four times higher than the statewide average.

The murder rate in Muskegon Heights was the highest in Michigan for 2019 and residents had a 1 in 46 chance of being the victim of an attack. All the more reason to hurry home from P.J. Hoffmaster State Park before the sun goes down.

You also want to make sure you're religious about locking your doors here because Muskegon Heights also has the highest burglary rate in Michigan.

Between bankruptcy, a staggering 36% poverty rate, and an unemployment rate nearly five times higher than the national average, it's no secret that Detroit has had its share of struggles. It's also no wonder 10% of the population has fled the city in the past decade.

And with all those frustrations, it's no surprise that crime is also a big issue in Detroit. Motown had the second highest murder rate and second highest burglary rate in Michigan, for starters. On top of that, Detroit recorded 6,886 car thefts in 2019, so you want to be very picky about where you leave your car in the Motor City.

All that being said, Detroit is still a big city, so if you stick to Detroit's safest neighborhoods, like the area around the Detroit Riverfront, you should be all right.

The fourth most dangerous place in Michigan goes to Kalamazoo, a city of 76,827 in the southwestern part of the state.

Folks in Kalamazoo had a 1 in 21 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2019, so you'll want to be wary about your belongings here.

We just hope they have enough security at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum to stop a heist, seeing as Kalamazoo had the third highest burglary rate in Michigan.

On top of that, 949 people in Kalamazoo were attacked, murdered, or raped in 2019.

Located 40 miles west of Ann Arbor and 35 miles south of Lansing, Jackson is a bit of an outlier on our list -- one of the few places not near Lake Michigan or Detroit.

Apparently, too many of Jackson's residents became enamored with the local Cell Block 7 museum and decided they'd like to become permanent residents.

Seriously, though, Jackson averaged about one violent crime a day, nearly four property crimes a day, and one rape a week in 2019, so it's not a good place to let your guard down.

Lansing Township is made up of five non-contiguous areas that surround Lansing's east and west sides. That must make it a bit harder for local police to get their jobs done.

It's hard to say whether the east or west side is contributing the most to the township's high crime rate, but there's no denying that it has the second highest property crime rate in Michigan.

Residents had a 1 in 18 chance of having their belongings stolen or damaged in 2019

On the bright side, Lansing Township is the least violent place on this list.

Three Rivers sounds like a peaceful name for this small city, but it's far from peaceful in Michigan's seventh most dangerous place. Three Rivers had the fourth highest rate of rape cases in the state in 2019.

But Three Rivers has Michigan's sixth highest overall crime rate mostly because of the prevalence of property crime. There was a property crime committed every day, on average, to give you an idea.

At least you can find a relaxing space at Hidden Mash Sanctuary; just don't stay out too late.

A neighbor of Benton Township, Benton Harbor comes in as the eighth most dangerous place to call home in the Wolverine State.

Benton Harbor is in the top ten statewide for all the wrong reasons - murder, rape, and burglary rates, not to mention unemployment. And with the median household income barely above the poverty line, it's safe to say there's a lot of work to be done in Benton Harbor.

But hey, at least the Silver Beach Carousel has a 5/5 rating.

Highland Park has been featured at the top of our list of the worst places in Michigan for a couple of years running now, and a big reason why is crime.

Of course, with a poverty rate of over 45% and the highest unemployment rate in Michigan, it isn't hard to imagine why criminal activity is so prevalent here. All we're saying is that if folks had slightly better odds than 1 in 48 of being attacked over

a year, we'd give a more favorable review.

Highland Park is surrounded by Detroit, but things are so bad here that the larger city doesn't want to absorb it.

Located some 10 miles southeast of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti comes in as Michigan's tenth most dangerous place.

We're not sure if college kids are totally to blame for Ypsilanti's above-average crime numbers, but Eastern Michigan University does have around 20,000 students, which has to inflate the stats in a city of 21,178.

That being said, Ypsilanti does have the 12th highest total crime rate in the state, thanks to a good mix of both property and violent crime.