The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Pennsylvania

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Pennsylvania For 2024

Turns out the City of Brotherly Love has a bit of work to do on the crime front. I mean, have they even figured out who broke Liberty Bell yet?

Seriously though, Philadelphia has the eighth highest murder rate in the state, and residents have a 1 in 96 chance of being the victim of a violent crime each year. The property crime rate also ranks as the second highest in the state.

But, for a big city, Philadelphia outshines some of its worst suburbs in terms of keeping crime rates reasonable. And if you stay out of Philadelphia’s worst neighborhoods, your odds of having a safe experience rise dramatically.

We turn to the greater Philadelphia area to reach Pennsylvania’s second most dangerous city, Chester. Chester is also the oldest city in Pennsylvania, so you’d think they’d have figured out how to keep crime down by now.

On the contrary, Chester had the second highest rate of burglaries in the state, with about one taking place each day over a year; quite a staggering rate for a city of just 33,905. Perhaps these thieves are trying to recoup their losses after a day out at the local casino and racetrack.

That doesn’t explain Chester’s second highest place ranking in murders per capita statewide, though, or Chester’s status as the second most violent spot in PA.

Located a half-hour southeast of Pittsburgh, McKeesport ranks as the third most dangerous place to call home in Pennsylvania.The overall crime rate in McKeesport is 150% higher than the national average, and more than 250% higher than the statewide average.

McKeesport had the highest violent crime rate in Pennsylvania, with 10 murders in 2022. That’s enough for anyone to seek sanctuary at the nearby Renziehausen Park Rose Garden.

McKeesport isn’t exactly low on property crime either. To give you an idea, McKeesport had the highest rate of burglaries in the state, so it’s not the sort of place where it’s okay to leave your door unlocked.

Coming in as Pennsylvania’s fourth most dangerous city is Pottstown. While Pottstown had the least violent crime per capita of cities in the top five, it does have one troubling statistic — the third highest rate of rape cases in the state. That’s about three cases per month, which, for a borough of just 22,705, is all too common.

Pottstown also had the third highest property crime rate in the state. Maybe the local Steel River Playhouse should stage a production of Crime and Punishment to educate residents on the perils of a criminal life.

Pottstown is located about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The Wilkinsburg Police Department have their work cut out for them. That’s because the borough has the highest murder rate in PA, with 16 murders occurring over 2022 — crazy high for a place with only 15,389 people.

On top of that, Wilkinsburg averaged more than one property crime each day of the year and had the third highest burglary rate in Pennsylvania. Those numbers are enough to put both Wilkinsburg’s violent and property crime rates in the top ten statewide.

Wilkinsburg is located less than 10 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Situated on the Allegheny River just northeast of Pittsburgh, New Kensington ranks as the sixth most dangerous place in Pennsylvania.

Folks in New Ken had a 1 in 32 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2022, so it’s a city where you have to be on guard for porch pirates.

New Kensington also reported 82 violent crimes, so just about every week, one unlucky resident found themselves the victim of an attack.

Situated in South Central Pennsylvania, York holds the seventh spot for the most dangerous places to live in Pennsylvania, with its violent and property crime rates posing significant safety concerns.

With a population of 44,901, York has recorded 319 incidents of violent crime and 1,149 instances of property crime. The per capita rates for violent and property crimes are 710/100k and 2,558/100k respectively, contributing to its overall total crime rate of 3,269/100k.

Darby is a borough of 9,256 located just outside of southwest Philadelphia. Darby earned its #8 spot on this list thanks to having the sixth highest rate of violent crime in Pennsylvania. What’s especially bad is that Darby had the 74th most rapes per capita in the whole state, with about one case happening every three weeks — yikes.

It’s not like property crime is super low in Darby either — each year, residents face a 1 in 44 chance of having their property damaged or stolen. Making it a good practice to check you still have all your valuables when you leave a show at Tower Theater.

Plymouth may be known as the Gateway to Luzerne County, but it’s also the gateway to an uncomfortable amount of crime. The 1.2 square mile borough punches significantly above its weight class in terms of crime. Plymouth has the fourth highest violent crime rate in Pennsylvania.

Residents of Plymouth also have a 1 in 49 chance of being robbed or having their property damaged over a year, so it’s not the sort of place you want to leave your house unlocked, either.

Swatara Township is the least violent place to feature on this list, but when it comes to property crime, I don’t envy the workload of the Swatara Township Police Department.

Swatara Township experienced the fifth highest rate of property crime in Pennsylvania for 2022, with more than two property crimes happening each day, on average. The vast majority of those cases were larceny, so keep an eye on your valuables when you’re going about your business in Swatara Township.

Swatara Township is located a short drive east of Harrisburg.

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