You’ll be hard pressed to find a good dose of southern hospitality in most of North Carolina’s dangerous cities: these cities are more concerned with cleaning up their neighborhoods and fighting crime.
We’re not talking about choosing tomato based BBQ sauce instead of vinegar; or even worse, not being a Durham Bulls fan kind of crime, we’re talking about the type of crime that will get you on Raleigh’s WRAL at six. And lucky for you, RoadSnacks is here to tell you where the most crime is committed in the TarHeel State: we’ve created a list of the top ten most dangerous places in North Carolina for 2020.
In order to compile our list, we looked at FBI data for violent crimes and property crimes in Texas cities with a population of 5,000. That left us with 74 cities. We discovered that the state as a whole had 363 violent crimes and 2,545 property crimes reported per capita. And while that doesn’t seem like that many for the ninth largest state in the country in population, it is above the national average; and coincidentally one of the top 25 most dangerous states in the country.
Gone are the days that parents can let their children run wild until the street lights come on. Heck, parents shouldn’t let their kids out of their sight in the most dangerous cities in North Carolina. So, you must be wondering, how does one navigate these dangerous North Carolina cities when trying to make an informed decision on where you should call home?
We suggest that you take a look at our list below before you make any life changing decisions.
Here are the 10 most dangerous cities in North Carolina for 2020:
- Whiteville (Photos)
- Kinston (Photos)
- Henderson (Photos)
- Albemarle (Photos)
- Reidsville (Photos)
- Oxford (Photos)
- Siler City (Photos)
- Gastonia (Photos)
- Rockingham (Photos)
- Salisbury (Photos)
Do we think the problems in North Carolina’s most dangerous places are directly related to high unemployment, low wages, and lack of rehabilitation programs? Absolutely. Not to mention, rent in most of North Carolina’s safest places and best places to live is out of reach for most people, making it difficult for people to make a move. This keeps the people in these places feeling angry, defeated, and more likely to commit a crime.
So, what is the most dangerous place in North Carolina? That would be, Whiteville.
To see how the rest of your favorite places in North Carolina faired, take a look below; and if you don’t find your favorite there, head to the bottom.
Learn more about the safest places in North Carolina.
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 North Carolina reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In North Carolina
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In North Carolina
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In North Carolina
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In North Carolina
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In North Carolina For 2020
Whiteville makes it into the top 10 most dangerous in North Carolina. After a huge growth spurt in the 60’s and 70’s, people are actually leaving Whiteville in droves, which could be in part to its high criminal population.
As of the last FBI report, crime in Whiteville has been ticking upwards, and statistically, 1 in 11.5 residents here was recently the victim of a robbery or car theft.
I’m not from Whiteville, but I conduct business there. I can tell you the good old boy system is no longer in place.
It has been both easier and harder to get things done, but it is no longer the corrupt little town it once was.
The past couple of town managers did a great job at making things more transparent and efficient.
Unfortunately, some people like to rehash the bad things over and over and turn a blind eye to the good things, especially when they didn’t come up with them.”
It seems that the Kinston is a hub of crime.
Though residents of Kinston had a 1 in 90 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2018, that’s not too bad relative to other cities of its size.
Property crime now stands as the 4th worst in North Carolina.
The hometown of Charlie Rose isn’t so rosy right now when you look at the recent crime numbers. There were more than 200 violent crimes in this small town in 2018, and as of the recent criminal rankings, the numbers are climbing steadily.
If you live in Henderson, NC, you have a 1 of 10 chance of being the victim of a property crime.
I have been a resident of Hendersonville, NC for 53 years. I am very proud to call it my hometown. Next time, you think you want to include us, come visit. I would love to show you a different town than you have heard about. Actually, I would love to be the personal tour guide.
We are a beautiful southern hospitality town. We are known for loving home folks, amazing restaurants, loaded with churches, numerous banks, and hometown stores where you can meet the owner while shopping.
Albemarle is not the refuge that you might be expecting — it ranks as the 4th most dangerous city in North Carolina.
It has the 10th highest overall violent crime rate.
On the plus side, property crime ranks 6th in the state, meaning it’s not even in the top 10% of cities in North Carolina.
Put differently, property crime isn’t a problem to the same extent violent crime is in the city.
Reidsville residents faced a 1 in 132 chance of being the victim of violence in 2018 and a 1 in 19.9 chance of being the victim of a property crime — both statistics that have barely changed in recent years.
It’s the 9th most violent city.
Oxford has seen a continuous drop in crime of late — just not at a quick enough rate to get it off this list.
And with residents still facing a 1 in 21.4 chance of being the victim of a property crime, there’s little cause for celebration. In fact, the latest FBI report shows that there were 68 violent crimes in a town of only 8,793 in 2018.
Siler City experienced a drop in its property crime rate between 2017-2018.
That’s a difference of residents having about a 1 in 15 shot of being the victim of theft or arson at the beginning to a 1 in 22.3 shot in 2018.
Violent crime, meanwhile, remained at around the same level.
In this case, Gastonia finished as the 8th most dangerous place in the Tar Heel State.
Violent crime is an issue as the city ranks 13th overall for violent crime, while also ranking 11th for property crime.
Rockingham ranks as the 9th most dangerous city in North Carolina with the 2highest violent crime rate in the state.
However, the city ranks as one of the poorer in North Carolina according to one of earlier analyzes, so that must also contribute to a higher than average crime rate.
Not much violent crime, but there is an uptick in drug use. The schools here especially the high school are extremely good and the high school football team being one of the best in the state players get a lot of looks from college and pro scouts. The city has been putting a lot into outdoor activities opening up the Hitchcock Creek Blue Trail for kayaking and parks for walking… And with the purchase are the North Carolina motor speedway being turned into a concert venue that will host Carolina rebellion or epicenter for the next 20 years along with the third largest fireworks display free to the general public and many more events scheduled it seems Rockingham is taking a drastic turn around for the better..
Favorite places; Hudson Brother’s Deli, The Pee Dee River, Hitchcock Creek, and the Epicenter! Places to avoid; East Rockingham, Chapel Town, And Philadelphia areas….
Also home to grocery chain giant Food Lion, Salisbury has seen its violent crimes tick upwards over the last few years, and its residents have a 1 in 128 chance of being the victim of a robbery, rape, murder or attack.
You are delusional. I live in Salisbury and criminal gangs do not rule the streets here. Your story sounds quite scary, but it did not happen in downtown Salisbury. Don’t come here to buy drugs and you won’t find yourself in sketch neighborhoods, lady.
Because any Salisbury resident reading your over-the-top story knows that the only way in h**l that it’s even close to accurate is if you were in an area of Rowan County known for drug sales.
“Criminal Gangs” absolutely do not run our streets. Small businesses, artists and North Carolina Historic Sites run our strips. Get off the m**h. It’s causing paranoid delusions for you and you should by no means be armed!
How Is Your Town In ?
How we determined the most dangerous cities in North Carolina 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 74 cities in North Carolina.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 74 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 North Carolina — Whiteville.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in North Carolina.
Locking It All Up In North Carolina
The latest FBI crime data shows that Whiteville ranks as the most dangerous city in North Carolina for 2020.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Whiteville 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 North Carolina:
- Cary (Pop. 170,518)
- Pinehurst (Pop. 16,213)
- Holly Springs (Pop. 37,008)
For more North Carolina reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In North Carolina
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In North Carolina
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In North Carolina
- 10 Safest Cities in North Carolina
- 10 Worst Places To Live In North Carolina
Where Are The Most Dangerous Cities In North Carolina?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whiteville | 5,401 |
| 2 | Kinston | 20,341 |
| 3 | Henderson | 14,780 |
| 4 | Albemarle | 15,991 |
| 5 | Reidsville | 13,774 |
| 6 | Oxford | 8,793 |
| 7 | Siler City | 8,225 |
| 8 | Gastonia | 77,316 |
| 9 | Rockingham | 8,754 |
| 10 | Salisbury | 33,901 |
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