It turns out that Utah has more to worry about than Polygamy and alcohol stores operating without a state license, the state has its fair share of super dangerous places too.
And because RoadSnacks thinks it’s important to provide important information to the public, we created a list of the most dangerous places in Utah for 2020. We suggest you take a look at them before you make any life changing decisions. How’d we do it? We consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 63 cities. We looked at the FBI’s latest crime report for violent crime and property crime statistics for every place with over 5,000 residents. We discovered that Utah’s overall violent and property crime numbers, while above the national average, the numbers in the state’s most dangerous places could be better.
If you asked most Utahns, they would say that their little corner of this western state is the best, but that’s not the case for the people who live in Utah’s most dangerous places. The residents in these places are not only witnessing high crime, they are dealing with unemployment, low wages, and lack of rehabilitation programs. This is shocking because Utah is the sixth wealthiest state in the country. Do we think that the state needs to reevaluate their income and sales tax so that they can take care of their problems? We’re not entirely sure, but one thing we know is that the trickle down effect must be stopping after Utah’s best cities are compensated.
Want to know the places in Utah where jobs are scarce, wages low, and crime is high? Keep reading.
Let’s be real, we’re not talking about snowboarding in Park City without a helmet kind of danger. The type of danger we’re talking about gets people on Salt Lake City’s KUTV at six. That’s because the cities that made our list have robberies happening in broad daylight, car jackings, and daily shootings. There are neighborhoods in these cities that you shouldn’t drive thru, ever.
So, what’s the most dangerous place in Utah? That would be, South Salt Lake.
The Utah cities on our most dangerous list could definitely use some TLC. If you’re looking to be that diamond in the rough, or you’re just curious to see if your city made the list, take a look at our list below. And if you don’t see your city there, head to the bottom.
Learn more about the safest places in Utah.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.
For more Utah reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Utah
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Utah
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Utah
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Utah
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Utah For 2020
Just south of Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake beats the capital’s crime rankings by just a sliver because it has a marginally higher rate of violent crime.
Residents of South Salt Lake had a 1 in 103 chance of being the victim of a rape, murder, or assault in 2018, and a 1 in 14.0 chance of being the victim of theft or arson.
And the crime rate has only been getting worse, with the city experiencing an 18% rise in violent crime and a 6% rise in property crime between 2017-2018.
That capital and most populous city in Utah, Salt Lake City is, unfortunately, the 2nd most crime ridden city in the state.
And, just like in South Salt Lake, crime has steadily been rising in the capital, with a 22% spike in violent crime from 2017-2018, and a 5% increase in property crime.
This left the folks of Salt Lake City a 1 in 136 chance of being the victim of violence and a 1 in 16.2 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2018.
Salt Lake City, Utah is one of the most beautiful, well planned cities I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. I spent my Christmas holiday there a few years ago and was blown away by its cleanliness. I could tell that the founders of the city brought to life what they had envisioned. The streets were practically spotless and the people were incredibly nice and honest. I had actually left my expensive digital camera in the restroom on accident and didn’t realize it until two kind people started chasing me down to give it to me. I was shocked, because if that had happened in my hometown, the chances of someone returning such an expensive possession would have been pretty slim. I enjoyed the bars and Temple Square, which was breathtaking with all of the Christmas lights. I am not Mormon, but I thought the place looked magical.
Temple Square with all of the beautiful buildings and Christmas lights, the high end retail stores, the bars, the nice people and the clean streets. I can’t think of anything bad to say.
Population: 137,132
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 689 (3rd most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 3,584 (7th most dangerous)
More on West Valley:
A suburb of Salt Lake City (the seeming hub of Utah’s crime), West Valley is the second largest city in the state.
Not unlike the capital, West Valley has experienced a rapid growth in its crime rate — a 20% increase in violent crime and 22% in property crime between 2017-2018.
Residents of West Valley had a fairly high 1 in 145 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2018.
Murray is the 4th most violent city in the state, mostly due to the violent crime rate in 2018.
From 2017-2018, violent crime in Murray went up, leaving residents with a 1 in 229 shot of being a victim of violence in 2018.
On the other hand, property crime was reduced between 2017-2018, so there is some silver lining for Murray residents.
Just 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, Ogden was named the 6th best place to raise a family by Forbes in 2010.
That’s awfully surprising considering Ogden’s abysmal crime rate, with residents facing a 1 in 210 chance of being the victim of violence and a 1 in 27.2 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2018.
Still, that’s 67% less violent crime than South Salt Lake, and 50% less property crime than Salt Lake City, so that’s some good news for Ogden’s families.
The least populated city on this list, Moab has become a popular tourist destination for mountain bikers and off-roaders, but the city’s crime rate is what’s truly extreme.
Between 2017-2018, violent crime went up to 33 occurrences, leaving Moab’s residents a 1 in 159 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2018.
Property crime remained stagnant during these years, with residents of Moab having about a 1 in 30.1 chance of being the victim of theft or arson each year.
The gateway to Arches National Park. Has Jeep rental, some simple hotels, places to eat
Arches National Park is “the thing” that brings all visitors to Moab.
The largest city in Carbon County, Price has experienced a 13% increase in its violent crime rate and a 19% rise in property crime rate between 2017-2018.
Folks in Price had about a 1 in 16.9 chance of being robbed or burnt in 2018, which is just the heavy price you pay for living in Price.
Riverdale experienced a rise in violent crime between 2017-2018.
Still, the 1 in 382 chance Riverdale residents faced of being the victim of violence in 2018 is still lower than other places in the state.
Meanwhile, you have a 1 in 16.6 chance of being the victim of a property crime, making Riverdale the 4th worst city in Utah with regards to theft and arson.
Just 30 miles southeast of downtown Salt Lake City, Park City is a lovely, artsy city that’s one of three sites where the Sundance Film Festival takes place.
But that charm hasn’t protected Park City from a truly dramatic surge in violent crime; from 2017-2018, instances of violent crime tripled.
On the bright side, property crime fell by 25% during these years. But most would prefer if the assaults and rapes were the statistics that were going down.
the crime is very low it has so much to see, like going to the restaurants on main street i mean the place is just amazing to visit or to stay at.
main street, alpine slide, the luge track and to go skiing
The furthest city from the capital so far (140 miles southeast of Salt Lake City), Roosevelt has experienced a rapid 50% increase in its population since 2000.
But with this swell of people came a rapid rise in crime, with instances of violent crime more than tripling, and instances of property crime going up by 33% from 2017-2018.
With that recent boom in violence especially, Roosevelt residents had a 1 in 316 chance of being the victim of a rape, murder, or assault in 2018.
How Is Your Town In ?
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Utah for 2020?
Every year the FBI release two crime datasets, a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in the country, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.
For our analysis, we focused on the JUST released 2018 data, specifically the 2018 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2020.
So what criteria did we use? Have a look:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 63 cities in Utah.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 63 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in Utah — South Salt Lake.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Utah.
Locking It All Up In Utah
The latest FBI crime data shows that South Salt Lake ranks as the most dangerous city in Utah for 2020.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in South Salt Lake and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.
If you’re curious enough, here are the safest cities in Utah:
- Salem (Pop. 8,496)
- Lone Peak (Pop. 29,969)
- Mapleton (Pop. 10,041)
For more Utah reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Utah
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Utah
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Utah
- 10 Safest Places In Utah
- 10 Worst Places To Live In Utah
Where Are The Most Dangerous Cities In Utah?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Salt Lake | 25,160 |
| 2 | Salt Lake City | 202,633 |
| 3 | West Valley | 137,132 |
| 4 | Murray | 49,675 |
| 5 | Ogden | 87,616 |
| 6 | Moab | 5,274 |
| 7 | Price | 8,201 |
| 8 | Riverdale | 8,795 |
| 9 | Park City | 8,491 |
| 10 | Roosevelt | 6,962 |
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