What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Everything might be bigger in Texas; but in the state's most dangerous cities, it's definitely not better.

Yes, the most dangerous places in Texas are dealing with high unemployment, low wages, lack of rehabilitation programs; and thus, high crime. We're not talking about driving five miles over the speed limit or not being a Dallas Cowboys fan kind of crime, we're talking about the type of crime that will get you on Fort Worth's KXAS at five. And lucky for you, RoadSnacks is here to tell you where the most crime is committed in The Lone Star State: we've created a list of the top ten most dangerous places in Texas for 2022.

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 327 cities. We discovered that the state as a whole had 438 violent crimes and 2,562 property crimes reported per 100,00 residents. And while that doesn't seem like that many for the second largest state in the country in both area and population, it is above the national average; and coincidentally the 15th most dangerous state in the country.

It doesn't end there folks, Texas has 244 police officers for every 100,000 residents, but they just can't be everywhere, so bigger cities like Houston and Beaumont are really starting to feel the effects.

Have we piqued your interest? Want to know more about our methodology and where the most dangerous places in Texas are located? Keep reading.

  1. Palmview
  2. Humble
  3. Bellmead
  4. Houston
  5. Lubbock
  6. Webster
  7. Amarillo
  8. Aransas Pass
  9. Alice
  10. Dallas

Some might wonder why we produced this list. Well, one goal is to definitely help people navigate these dangerous Texas cities when trying to make an informed decision on what city they should call home.

With that in mind, what's the most dangerous city in Texas? Without further adieu. the most dangerous city in The Lone Star State for 2022 would be Palmview.

If you're 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 Texas.

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 Texas reading, check out:

We're taking a trip down to the border to reach our most dangerous city in Texas for 2022, Palmview. Palmview earned this unfortunate distinction by having a mix of high property and violent crime. Overall, the city experienced about twice as much crime as your typical American city in 2020.

The good news first: Palmview has the lowest rate of rape cases anywhere on this list. The bad news is you still have a 1 in 21 of being the victim of a property crime.

If you need to get away from the stress of Palmview's high crime rate, Bensten-Rio Grande Valley State Park offers some anxiety-reducing bird-watching opportunities.

It's good to be humble, but it's dangerous to live in Humble, Texas, a city 20 miles north of Houston. While Palmview took the top spot on this list thanks to its egregious amount of violent crime, Humble actually has the highest overall crime rate statewide, outstripping the national average by over 300%.

That's mostly due to a crazy high rate of property crime, with a typical resident facing a 1 in 12 chance of having their possessions damaged or stolen.

Sadly, the bad news doesn't end there. Humble also has the highest frequency of rape cases in all of Texas, as well as the highest murder rate of any place on this list. If you need a moment to get away from the anxiety of high crime, the Mercer Botanic Gardens make for a good sanctuary.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User The original uploader was | GFDL

Our tour of the most dangerous places to live in Texas takes u to Bellmead, a city just outside of Waco. Bellmead earned this spot on the list mostly thanks to having the fifth highest rate of violent crime in the state, with residents facing a 1 in 95 chance of being the victim of violence in a given year.

On the bright side, Bellmead didn't experience a single murder in 2020, but the odds being attacked are still quite high. Bellmead also has an uncomfortable amount of property crime, seeing as a resident has a 1 in 19 chance of having their stuff stolen or damaged.

In other words, if you're hanging out one of the parks that flank the suspension bridge to Waco, be sure to bring a buddy and get home before sunset.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User Hot Furnace | CC BY-SA 4.0

Houston, we have a problem: namely, crime. As far as the Houston-Dallas rivalry goes, Houston is the definite loser in terms of criminal activity, seeing as Dallas isn't even in the top fifty most dangerous cities statewide. Violent crime is the major problem in Houston, with 29,474 cases of people being killed, attacked, or raped in 2020. That adds up to a 1 in 79 chance of being the victim of such a crime -- not great.

You can still definitely have a nice day out at Discovery Green, downtown Houston's public urban park, but we do recommend buddying up after dark. That, and doing your best to avoid Houston's worst neighborhoods.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User Armbrust | CC BY 2.0

Located in the South Plains region of northwestern Texas, Lubbock comes in as the fifth most dangerous place to call home in the state. Lubbock experienced 28 murders in 2020, greatly contributing to the city's status as the place with the fourth highest rate of violent crime in the state.

Property crime is also quite high, with an average of 32 such cases happening every day in Lubbock. So when your parents tell you to be safe before sending you off to Texas Tech University, they're not just being paranoid.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User user:Redraiderengineer | CC BY-SA 3.0

Webster was originally named Gardentown when it was first founded in the late 19th century. "Urbanland" probably would make more sense today. The community now sits within the city sprawl surrounding Houston, with Webster located about a half hour southeast of the center of country's fourth largest city.

Being part of a major metropolis has its upsides, of course. But there are challenges involved as well. Unfortunately, crime represents one of the major issues facing this community. Violence is relatively rare around town. However, property crime has reached epidemic proportions, including the state's number 2 highest pace of larcenies.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User jimthompson | CC BY-SA 2.0

From the very far south, we head to the far north to reach Amarillo, the most populous city in the Texas Panhandle. While Alamo has been getting safer, Amarillo has been steadily getting more dangerous in recent years. Folks here have a 1 in 119 chance of being the victim of a violent crime over a year, with about three aggravated assaults taking place each day.

There were also 7,369 property crimes in 2020, which is quite high for a city of 200,296. On the fun side, Palo Duro Canyon, the second-biggest canyon in America is located just outside of Amarillo. Just be careful about taking pictures, or your visit could be just as dangerous as the city itself!

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User Who What Where Nguyen Why | GFDL

Aransas Pass sits along the coast, in the southeast part of Texas. The town, which is located a short drive outside of Corpus Christi, offers access to a fair amount of outdoor activity. Visitors can enjoy kayaking and fishing in the Redfish Bay.

However, don't let your guard down as you head to the water. There are criminal elements in town, making this the number 8 most dangerous spot in Texas. The main problem in town comes from burglaries, which occur at an extremely high rate. There were 87 such crimes last year in a population of 8,414.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Alice has a rich cultural history. The town is known as the "Birthplace of Tejano Music," a distinction it gets because a recording studio that helped launch the genre in the 1940s was located in town. Beyond that, Alice has storied history in science. Two Nobel Prize winners were born in this southeast Texas town.

But Alice has another distinction that's not so appealing. It's also the number 9 most dangerous spot in Texas. This comes as a result of high rates of burglary and arson.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Wikipedia User Larry D. Moore | CC BY-SA 3.0

Dallas represents one of the country's largest metropolitan areas. Also, one of its most iconic -- in many ways, when people outside of Texas think of the state, their minds turn to Dallas.

Given its size and rich history, the city offers its residents wide ranging amenities. From professional sports teams to botanical gardens to art museums, whatever your taste in recreational activities, you can likely find something to do in Dallas.

However, like most big cities, Dallas also faces down a sizable crime problem. Violent crime represents a particular concern. The city reported 236 murders and 569 sexual assaults in a year. Dallas also faces a high rate of car thefts and robberies.

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Source: Flickr User TexasExplorer98 | CC BY 2.0

Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous cities in Texas for 2022?

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 2020 data, specifically the 2020 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2022.

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 Texas cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 327 cities in Texas.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 327 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 Texas -- Palmview. Any ties went to the smaller city. You can download the data here.

Yes, Texas is a dangerous state as it ranks as the #11 most dangerous state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in texas ranks 15th highest in the United States -- 15.13% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Lone Star State ranks 14th highest in the United States -- 14.65% worse than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020.

Is Houston, TX a dangerous city?

Yes, Houston is a dangerous city. Houston ranks as the #29 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 Houston might be considered dangerous you still need to be aware of where you are. For example, West University is the safest in Houston, while Far North is considered dangerous by many based on recent crime stats.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Houston ranks 20th highest in America -- 128.87% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 39th highest in the United States -- 57.35% 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.

Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Texas

What are the most dangerous towns in Texas?

Summary: Locking It All Up In Texas

So what is the most dangerous city in Texas? After analyzing 327 cities in Texas, Palmview takes the top spot as the most dangerous city in Texas based on the most recently reported FBI data -- 2020.

The latest FBI crime data shows that Palmview ranks as the most dangerous city in Texas for 2022.

We want to point out again that there's still safes places in Palmview and that this isn't a comment on the people that live there. So please don't beat us up.

Some might wonder why we produced this list. Well, one goal is to definitely help people navigate these dangerous Texas cities when trying to make an informed decision on what city they should call home.

With that in mind, what's the most dangerous city in Texas? Without further adieu. the most dangerous city in The Lone Star State for 2022 would be Palmview.

If you're 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 Texas.

If you're looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.

Here are the safest cities in Texas:

  1. Fate (Pop. 16,917)
  2. Primera (Pop. 5,250)
  3. Memorial Villages (Pop. 12,375)
  4. Muleshoe (Pop. 5,005)
  5. Parker (Pop. 5,364)
  6. Highland Village (Pop. 16,848)
  7. Colleyville (Pop. 27,602)
  8. Fairview (Pop. 9,375)
  9. Trophy Club (Pop. 13,053)
  10. Fulshear (Pop. 14,094)

For more Texas reading, check out:

RankCityPopulationViolent Crimes Per CapitaProperty Crimes Per Capita
1Palmview5,8061,8604,753
2Humble15,9011,0258,351
3Bellmead10,8351,0525,159
4Houston2,346,1551,2564,178
5Lubbock262,1461,0874,108
6Webster11,5456146,808
7Amarillo200,2968363,679
8Aransas Pass8,4146894,064
9Alice18,6346064,298
10Dallas1,363,0288443,446
11Beaumont116,7661,2253,308
12Donna16,4001,0483,323
13Lufkin,35,0078113,490
14San Antonio1,573,1897353,626
15Cleveland8,2855794,176
16Lamesa9,1196144,024
17Corpus Christi329,0508423,266
18Henderson13,0935574,162
19La Marque17,6565324,230
20Gilmer5,1716573,461
21Waco140,8706423,445
22Balch Springs25,1897143,263
23Galveston50,7516443,337
24Alamo20,0785423,650
25Sinton5,3246943,155
26Paris24,8019912,858
27Slaton5,8645963,171
28Addison16,7784296,067
29Bay City17,5055193,507
30Livingston5,2404194,809
31San Benito24,2378122,780
32Austin1,000,2764663,631
33Baytown77,8234343,748
34Bastrop9,4795273,122
35Mesquite141,3254373,535
36Harlingen65,0144133,748
37Brownwood18,3674683,239
38El Campo11,5235123,098
39Odessa126,2888072,504
40Uvalde16,0273993,849
41South Houston17,4855372,859
42Mercedes16,6995092,976
43Gainesville16,9864413,237
44Jasper7,5434103,367
45Fort Worth929,5095412,733
46Navasota8,1046292,504
47Port Arthur54,2577772,309
48Pampa16,9754592,998
49Big Spring28,2944982,845
50Lacy-Lakeview6,7484592,874

Download The Entire Texas Ranking Data

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our ninth time ranking the most dangerous places to live in Texas and is updated for 2022.