Louisiana’s 3 Largest Cities Rank Among America’s Most Dangerous in 2025 Safety Study

Highlights

• Baton Rouge ranks 179th out of 182 cities in WalletHub’s 2025 safety study—second-worst in America
• New Orleans ranks 178th, just ahead of Baton Rouge, though murders dropped 60% from recent peaks
• Shreveport comes in at 155th, making it Louisiana’s “safest” major city
• All three Louisiana cities land in the bottom 20 for home and community safety
• New Orleans crime dropped 43% in two years, showing that rapid improvement is possible

Louisiana’s Three Largest Cities Land Near Bottom of National Safety Rankings

BATON ROUGE, La. (KPEL News) — Louisiana’s three largest cities landed near the bottom of a national safety study. Baton Rouge and New Orleans took two of the five least-safe spots among nearly 200 American cities.

According to WalletHub’s 2025 “Safest Cities in America” report, Baton Rouge ranks 179th safest out of 182 cities. The capital scored 36.23 out of 100. New Orleans came in at 178th with 37.53 points. Shreveport placed 155th with 48.43 points.

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That puts Baton Rouge and New Orleans right alongside Memphis, Detroit, and St. Louis. The numbers confirm what residents already know—public safety remains a serious problem across Louisiana.

What Louisiana Families Need to Know

WalletHub looked at more than 180 cities using 41 different safety measures. The study tracked violent crime rates, traffic deaths, natural disaster risk, and financial stability. Cities got scored in three categories: Home and Community Safety, Natural Disaster Risk, and Financial Safety.

Baton Rouge came in dead last—182nd out of 182—for Home and Community Safety. That category makes up half the total score. It measures violent crime, property crime, police resources, traffic safety, and other protection factors.

New Orleans ranked 181st in that same category. Both cities also scored poorly on Financial Safety. Baton Rouge placed 148th and New Orleans 175th. Those numbers reflect high unemployment, lots of uninsured residents, and people struggling financially.

Shreveport’s 155th-place finish looks better by comparison, but it’s still bottom-third nationally. The city ranked 148th in Home and Community Safety, 75th in Natural Disaster Risk, and 171st in Financial Safety.

Breaking Down Baton Rouge’s Numbers

Baton Rouge’s last-place ranking matches what the crime statistics show. The city’s violent crime rate runs 177% higher than the national average. Murder, assault, and robbery numbers are all high.

The city sees about 1,028 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. The national average is 370 per 100,000. Property crime is just as bad—5,852 per 100,000 people, nearly 200% above the national rate.

Your chances of becoming a crime victim in Baton Rouge: one in 109 for violent crime, one in 18 for property crime. The murder rate of 29 per 100,000 residents is seven times the national average.

Baton Rouge has about one police officer per 343 residents. That’s lower than recommended for high-crime cities. The police department loses officers faster than it can hire and train new ones.

New Orleans: Bad Ranking, Better Reality

New Orleans ranks 178th nationally—just one spot above Baton Rouge. But the current situation there looks different than these numbers suggest.

Crime in New Orleans dropped hard throughout 2024 and into 2025. Murders fell from 192 in 2023 to 124 in 2024. That’s a 35% drop. Through mid-2025, the city is tracking toward its lowest murder count since the early 1970s. Preliminary data shows just 53 murders by mid-year.

Total reported crime is down 21% from 2024 and 43% from two years ago. Non-fatal shootings dropped 44%. Carjackings got cut nearly in half. Property crimes fell across the board.

The New Orleans Police Department credits focused strategies and partnerships with federal agencies—specifically the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations. Community intervention programs helped too. NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick calls it “strategic, intentional” work paying off.

But these recent improvements haven’t changed the national rankings yet. WalletHub’s analysis pulls from multiple years of data. New Orleans spent decades as one of America’s murder capitals. That history weighs heavy in any comparison, even as current numbers show real progress.

Shreveport: Louisiana’s Best Still Isn’t Good

At 155th out of 182 cities, Shreveport ranks as Louisiana’s safest major city. But that still puts it in the bottom third nationally.

The city placed 148th in Home and Community Safety. Violent crime remains a problem here like everywhere else in Louisiana. Shreveport did best in Natural Disaster Risk at 75th—hurricanes hit southern Louisiana harder than the northern part of the state.

Financial Safety is Shreveport’s worst category at 171st. High unemployment, lots of uninsured people, and residents with no emergency savings all drag that number down.

Timeline and Louisiana’s Safety Future

The gap between Louisiana’s cities and the safest places in America is huge. South Burlington, Vermont—the nation’s safest city—scored 74.15 out of 100. That’s more than double Baton Rouge’s 36.23.

South Burlington has the lowest unemployment rate in America at 1.9%. Crime is low, residents are financially stable, and natural disasters are rare. Louisiana’s cities deal with the opposite: high crime, economic problems, hurricane and flood risk, and deep-rooted public safety issues.

But New Orleans proves fast improvement is possible. The city went from America’s murder capital to its lowest murder count in 50 years in just a few years. They did it through focused police work, federal partnerships, and community programs.

Baton Rouge and Shreveport haven’t seen the same turnaround. Baton Rouge’s crime actually went up 23.5% year-over-year in recent reports—the wrong direction. Shreveport’s violent crime rates stay well above national averages.

What Happens Next for Louisiana’s Cities

Louisiana’s safety problems didn’t develop overnight. Poverty, limited jobs, underfunded schools, drug abuse, gang violence, and not enough police—all these issues feed into each other.

Fixing them requires work on multiple fronts at once. New Orleans showed what works: putting officers where crime happens, partnering with federal agencies, engaging with communities, and running intervention programs that address why violence starts in the first place.

Governor Jeff Landry has said he’s open to federal help for public safety, including National Guard deployment if needed.

Leaders in Baton Rouge and Shreveport know the safety crisis hurts quality of life, keeps businesses away, and damages their cities’ reputations. Both cities have started crime reduction programs. None have achieved New Orleans-level results yet.

The path forward means facing hard truths while believing change can happen. New Orleans proved that even cities with the worst crime in America can turn things around fast. Whether Baton Rouge and Shreveport can do the same—that’s Louisiana’s biggest public safety question right now.