The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Washington For 2022

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Washington For 2022

Up now is the city of Fife, a Tacoma suburb with a hefty crime problem. You'll have to guard your winnings closely after a big night at the local casino because Fife had the second highest property crime rate in Washington.

On top of all the burglaries and larcenies going down in Fife, there's also a lot of violent crime. The city of 10,301 experienced 4 murders in 2020, reflecting the highest murder rate statewide.

In other words, if you're looking to move to one of Tacoma's best suburbs, steer clear of Fife.

For the second year running, Tukwila sees itself our list of Washington's most dangerous places to live. It's not hard to see why, either; Tukwila had an overall crime rate nearly seven times higher than the national average -- yikes.

Residents of Tukwila had a 1 in 6 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2020. That includes a whopping 530 car thefts and 222 burglaries.

Violent crime isn't much better in Tukwila, the city with the third highest rate of rape cases in Washington. So while you can enjoy a day out at Crystal Springs Park, you'd be well-advised to bring a buddy and get home before dark.

With such high crime numbers, it's no wonder that Tukwila also topped our list of Seattle's worst suburbs.

Tacoma was rated as one of the country's "most walkable cities" in 2006, but we think the local population might disagree, given all the crime that goes down here. In fact, you'd have to be downright defiant to go walking by yourself at Point Defiance Park.

That's because Tacoma had the second highest violent crime rate in Washington, with residents facing 1 in 118 shot of being the victim of an attack in 2020. Violent crime is nearly three times as high in Tacoma as the rest of the country.

So keep your guard up in the City of Destiny, or you might be destined for a violent encounter.

Located within the Yakama Indian Reservation, Toppenish comes in as Washington's fourth most dangerous place to call home.

Toppenish's low population inflates the impact of each crime, so much so that having just 2 murder in 2020 was enough to give the city the second highest murder rate in the state.

The burglary rate in Toppenish was also the highest in Washington. Other types of property crime are also prevalent, but if you see buildings with spray paint on them, it's probably not graffiti -- Toppenish is the City of Murals, after all.

From the top of Seattle's Space Needle, the city might look quite peaceful, but there's a whole lot of crime going down in Washington's biggest city.

Seattle's not the sort of place you want to leave your home's doors unlocked, considering it had the second highest burglary rate in Washington. Same goes for your car, what with the 4,911 car thefts recorded in 2020.

On top of that, violent crime ranked as the seventh highest statewide, with one rape, four robberies, and seven aggravated assaults a day, on average. Oh, and two murders a month, for good measure.

Washington's 2nd most populous city, Spokane, is also its sixth most dangerous. To be fair, Spokane is a big city with plenty of safe neighborhoods, it's just that some areas still have a lot of work to do.

Residents of Spokane had a 1 in 19 chance of having their belongings stolen or damaged in 2020, so it's a good idea to check you still have all your valuables after a day out at Riverfront Park.

There were also 1,341 violent crimes reported for the year, so do keep your guard up in Spokane. On the bright side, Spokane fell a few positions on this list from last year, so hopefully, things continue to improve.

In the 1880s, a large part of what is now known as Union Gap left town. Not just the people. Whole buildings were loaded onto rollers and moved north, to keep up with a changed railroad route. Over time, that new town became Yakima -- these days located about 10 minutes down the road. The leftovers eventually got the name Union Gap.

Some of today's 6,206 residents might also think about rolling on down the line. That is, if they want to keep their stuff. After all, Union Gap suffers the state's number 3 highest rate of property crime. That includes high rates of larceny, robbery, and burglary.

SeaTac gets its name directly from the airport that dominates the area, known as the Seattle--Tacoma International Airport. Live around here and you'll have to get used to loud takeoffs and landings, as well as airport traffic. Plus, the community has an unfortunate crime problem. Robberies and car thefts are particularly common.

However, life in SeaTac isn't all jet fumes and car jackings. You can also head over to the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden or enjoy a picnic at Angle Lake Park.

The westernmost city on Puget Sound, an healthy mix of property crime and violent crime contribute to Shelton's position on this list.

We already ranked Shelton among the worst places to live in Washington for things like high unemployment and poverty rates, but crime was the real deciding factor.

Shelton had the fourth highest rate of rape cases in Washington in 2020 and experienced 517 count property crimes -- quite high for a city of just 10,749.

If you're trying to get away from the mean streets of Shelton, at least you can go camping at nearby Jarrell Cove State Park. Bears are probably easier to deal with than Shelton's criminals anyway.

Located on the southwestern edge of Tacoma, Lakewood comes in as Washington's tenth most dangerous city.

There were 454 car thefts in Lakewood over the year, one of the higher rates on this list. We just hope nobody tries to pull a grand theft auto at America's Car Museum.

Violent crime is the bigger problem in Lakewood, though. Residents had a 1 in 161 chance of being the victim of an assault, murder, rape, or robbery in 2020.

Most Dangerous Places To Live In Washington FAQs

Is Washington a dangerous state?

Yes, Washington is a dangerous state as it ranks as the #18 most dangerous state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in washington ranks 35th highest in the United States -- 24.27% better than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Evergreen State ranks fourth highest in the United States -- 39.54% worse than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020.

Is Seattle, WA a dangerous city?

Yes, Seattle is a dangerous city. Seattle ranks as the #28 most dangerous out of 320 major cities over 100,000 people in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. Keep in mind that are always safe and dangerous parts of any city, so even though Seattle might be considered dangerous you still need to be aware of where you are. For example, Hawthorne Hills is the safest in Seattle, while Belltown is considered dangerous by many based on recent crime stats.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Seattle ranks 106th highest in America -- 14.1% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 17th highest in the United States -- 83.47% worse than US average property crime rate. Note the latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020 and that no city in America is 'dangerous'. Despite the uptick in murders, it's nothing like you'd see in Tijuana or Caracas where the murder rate is 2x any American city.

Yes, Washington is a dangerous state as it ranks as the #18 most dangerous state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in washington ranks 35th highest in the United States -- 24.27% better than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Evergreen State ranks fourth highest in the United States -- 39.54% worse than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020.

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Yes, Seattle is a dangerous city. Seattle ranks as the #28 most dangerous out of 320 major cities over 100,000 people in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. Keep in mind that are always safe and dangerous parts of any city, so even though Seattle might be considered dangerous you still need to be aware of where you are. For example, Hawthorne Hills is the safest in Seattle, while Belltown is considered dangerous by many based on recent crime stats.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Seattle ranks 106th highest in America -- 14.1% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 17th highest in the United States -- 83.47% worse than US average property crime rate. Note the latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020 and that no city in America is 'dangerous'. Despite the uptick in murders, it's nothing like you'd see in Tijuana or Caracas where the murder rate is 2x any American city.

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