These Are The 10 Most Dangerous Places in Utah

Usually when people think of Utah, murders, violence, and property crimes are not the first things that come to mind. In fact, they’re probably pretty far down the list, considering all the great stuff this state has going on. Here at the Movoto Real Estate blog, though, we feel we’d be remiss if we didn’t give all the facts. U tah is one of the safer states in general, and yes it is almost unrealistically beautiful, but there are also some places within its borders that are downright dangerous. These are the 10 most dangerous places in Utah: 1. City of South Salt Lake
2. City of Salt Lake City
3. City of Ogden
4. City of Washington
5. City of Tooele
6. City of Brigham City
7. City of Cedar City
8. City of Sandy
9. City of West Jordan
10. City of Payson
What exactly made South Salt Lake the most dangerous place in the state? Keep reading and we’ll tell you why each of these 10 places made the list and the method we used to get there.

Our Methodology

Just like our other Big Deal Lists, we started this one by paying a visit to the U.S. Census. There, we gathered all of the places in Utah with populations of 10,000 people or more. We then used the latest 2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report to look at each place according to the following criteria:

• Murder
• Rape
• Robbery
• Assault
• Burglary
• Theft
• Vehicle theft

We then divided these crimes into four different categories:

• Murders
• Violent crimes
• Property crimes
• Total crimes

Some places simply didn’t report data to the bureau in 2012, so once we eliminated those, we were left with a total of 37 places. We calculated each place’s number of crimes per person in order to keep this a level playing field. Next, we gave each a score from 1 to 37 in our four categories. We decided to weight the more serious crimes more heavily, so murders, violent crimes, and property crimes each comprised 30 percent of the overall score, and the total number of crimes made up just 10 percent. For the final step, we averaged each city’s rankings into one overall Big Deal Score, where the score closest to one was our most dangerous place. Now that you know the method behind this analysis, let’s take a look at each of our 10 most dangerous places. If you want to see more than these, just head down to the bottom of the post for a complete ranking.

This ranking is not a critique of police practices or effectiveness. It is simply an analysis of where crimes occurred.

1. South Salt Lake

In 2012, South Salt Lake had the most violent crimes per capita out of anywhere in the state. Worse still, many of these were murders (it had the most murders per capita as well). It didn’t fare much better with its number of property crimes either. It ranked second in this category, making for the second highest number of crimes per capita overall.

2. Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City had the highest number of property crimes in 2012 and the second highest number of violent crimes. While it didn’t have quite the number of murders per capita that South Salt Lake did, the fourth highest isn’t necessarily something to write home about either. Overall, residents in Salt Lake City had the highest chance of being the victim of a crime: a 1 in 12 chance.

3. Ogden

Ogden had the third highest number of both violent crimes and property crimes per capita in 2012, making for the third highest number of crimes per capita in all of Utah. With this high number of crimes, residents had a 1 in 20 chance of being the victim of a crime. To put this into perspective, residents in the safest city, Heber, had a 1 in 127 chance of being the victim of a crime, while in most places it was at least 1 in 35.

4. Washington

With the eighth most violent crimes in the state, this place may not have had quite as many violent crimes per capita as Ogden, but when it came to murder in particular, Washington was a bit higher in our rankings. In 2012, Washington had the third most murders per capita in the state. It also had the sixth highest number of property crimes per capita—most of which were thefts, followed by burglaries. This made for the sixth highest number of crimes per capita overall.

5. Tooele

Tooele may well be the Greatest City in Utah (up for debate), but it certainly isn’t one of the safest. In 2012, it had the fourth highest number of property crimes and the fifth highest number of violent crimes per capita. The good news is that none of these violent crimes were murders, but there were several assaults, robberies, and rapes. Overall, with such high numbers of both violent and property crimes, residents had a 1 in 22 chance of being the victim of a crime.

6. Brigham City

How could a city known for its peaches and its beautiful LDS Temple be one of the most dangerous in the state? Well, it might have a little something to do with it having the fourth highest number of violent crimes per capita. It also had the fifth highest number of property crimes, making for the fifth highest number of crimes per capita overall. The good news is, none of these crimes were murders; the bad news, residents had a 1 in 25 chance of being the victim of any type of crime.

7. Cedar City

In 2012, Cedar City had just the 14th highest number of property crimes in the state, which isn’t great, but it’s not as bad as it is in many other places. The bad news: Cedar City had the fifth highest number of murders and more broadly, the sixth highest number of violent crimes per capita. Oh well, at least it wasn’t as bad as South Salt Lake in that regard.

8. Sandy

This Salt Lake County city ranked eighth for both its number of murders and total crimes per capita, ninth for its property crimes, and 11th for its number of violent crimes. Granted, most of these violent crimes were assaults, which are arguably less severe than, say, murders, but there were also a number of robberies, rapes, and even two murders in 2012. Overall, residents in Sandy had a 1 in 32 chance of being the victim of a crime.

9. West Jordan

In 2012, West Jordan saw two murders, tying it with our previous city for the eighth most murders per capita in the state. Not only that, but West Jordan had a high number of violent crimes in general, with the ninth most in the state. For every 100,000 residents, West Jordan had 186 violent crimes. Now considering the fact that the population is just over 107,000, this paints a pretty clear picture. You can also think of it this way: for every person there were .0019 violent crimes. Overall, West Jordan had the 11th highest number of crimes per capita in the state.

10. Payson

This Utah County locale may seem like the perfect small city you’re looking for, but before you pack your bags and head that way, you might want to read this. In 2012, Payson had the second most murders per capita in the state. It fared better than some in our top 10 in the broader category of violent crimes per capita, ranking 22nd here; but it also had a high number of property crimes (the eighth highest), and therefore, a high number of total crimes (the ninth highest in the state.)

Staying Safe In Utah

Utah in undoubtedly beautiful, it’s becoming a more popular destination by the day for snowboarders, artists, and young and trendies in general, and yes, it is even one of the safer states in the country. However, within its borders there are certain places that are more dangerous than others. Feel like buzzing off to someplace else in the Beehive State after seeing this list? We don’t blame you. Get in touch and we’ll help you find your new home—maybe in someplace like Heber. For Media Inquiries, Contact:
Randy Nelson
rnelson@movoto.com