The Safest and Most Dangerous Cities In Virginia - 2018 Ranking!

Sir Walter Raleigh named the entire region "Virginia," to honor the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I. Later, as the population of the settlers grew, Virginia was separated into colonies for effective governance.

Virginia is the home of more presidents than any other state in the US, earning it the nickname of “Home of Presidents”. Eight presidents were born in Virginia; namely George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson. Moreover, seven of those presidents are buried there.

If you are considering moving to Virginia or you already live there, make sure to continue reading to find out how safe Virginia is compared to other states, and learn about its safest cities based on the most recent FBI crime report.

Ranking at #10, Virginia is home to almost 8.412 million residents and is the 14th most populated state in the country. Overall, Virginia is pretty safe, but when it comes to safe and dangerous cities, Bridgewater takes the #1 spot for being the safest city in the state with a 303 crime rate per 100,000 people only. Coming next as the 2nd safest place is Purcellville, a town located in the northeast and home to roughly 9,235 residents. Leesburg also ranked #14 and Alexandria, a major city that resides in Arlington County, is the 17th safest city in the state with a 1986 crime rate per 100,000 people.

Portsmouth comes in 1st as the most dangerous city, with a 6399 crime rate per 100,000 people. One of the 10 biggest cities in Virginia but also one of the most dangerous, Roanoke, which previously ranked #14 in terms of danger is now the 6th most dangerous city in Virginia, with a crime rate of 4609 per 100,000 people. Charlottesville ranked #20 with a 3135 crime rate per 100,000 people. Virginia Beach, however, being the biggest city in the state didn't make any lists, and is ranked #26 in terms of safety.

Find out if your city is one of the safest in the state, then review our resources for crime prevention tips and home security information.

More Information About Virginia

Capital: Richmond

Number of Counties: 95

Overall Population: 8.412 million inhabitants

Land Area: 42,774.6 square miles

Education Statistics: 36.9% of the population holds a bachelor's degree or higher, (percent of persons age 25 years+, 2011-2015)

Unemployment Rate: 3.7%

Crime Stats In Virginia

Violent Crime Rate Per 100,000 Inhabitants: 217.6

Property Crime Rate Per 100,000 Inhabitants: 1,859.4

Virginia’s Safety Rank: #10

Disclaimer:

In creating this ranking, we excluded all cities with population less than 5,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.

Table 1: Top 20 Safest Cities In Virginia

Table 2: Top 20 Most Dangerous Cities In Virginia

Table 3: All Cities, Ranked By Population