Which is states and areas have the biggestbproblem with crime as well as gangs and other organized crime?
Executive summary
National crime burdens are concentrated in specific cities and metropolitan areas rather than spread evenly across whole states: Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore and other large urban centers repeatedly show violent‑crime rates far above the national average [1], while some states such as Maine register the lowest statewide crime rates [2]. Multiple rankings and news analyses stress that metro areas—especially parts of the Southeast, Midwest and selected West Coast cities—account for the worst public safety indicators, and that gang, drug and organized‑crime activity is a persistent factor in those pockets [3] [4].
1. Major cities are the epicenters — not entire states
Most published lists and FBI‑based rankings show that extreme violence is driven by a subset of large cities and neighborhoods rather than uniformly across entire states: Memphis is repeatedly singled out with violent‑crime rates many times the national figure, and Detroit and Baltimore also have violent‑crime levels well above the U.S. average [1]; U.S. News and FBI data are commonly used to create these city rankings [5]. Statewide measures can therefore obscure the local concentration of crime—metro areas like Memphis or parts of Chicago and Oakland carry outsized shares of violent incidents even when the rest of their states are safer [3] [6].
2. States and regions cited most often for high crime burdens
Several sources compiling state and city data put parts of the Southeast and Midwest near the top of “most dangerous” lists, with states such as Alabama and Oklahoma noted for high assault and homicide rates in some analyses [7], while WorldAtlas highlights Tennessee metros (Memphis) and Mississippi metros (Jackson) as recurring trouble spots [3]. Commercial and media lists also flag cities in Georgia, Ohio and California as having persistently high local rates—for example Atlanta, Cleveland and Oakland appear on multiple compiled lists of high‑crime places [8] [6].
3. Where gangs and organized crime concentrate today
Gang activity and organized criminal networks remain concentrated in certain urban neighborhoods and large metro corridors: Los Angeles is singled out for gang and organized networks that contribute heavily to homicide numbers [3], while Oakland, Chicago, Baltimore and parts of the Rust Belt are repeatedly linked to gang‑related violence and drug markets in city‑level reporting [6] [4]. Reporting also points to opioid‑related criminal activity adding to violence in places such as Memphis and other hard‑hit metros [3].
4. The national picture is improving — with important caveats
Multiple outlets report that U.S. crime has fallen substantially since the pandemic peak, with homicide rates in many large cities dropping to decades‑low levels and national violent and property crime trending downward in 2024–25 [9] [10]. That trend coexists with stubborn local hotspots and short‑term surges in specific places (for example Hawaii’s recent property and violent crime increases noted by USAFacts), so national improvements do not erase concentrated urban problems [11].
5. Data sources, ranking differences and political framing
Different lists use different measures—FBI UCR/Crime Data Explorer, state compilations, commercial rankings—so “most dangerous” labels vary by methodology and can be amplified by sensational headlines; U.S. News and other rankings are explicit about relying on FBI and public data [5], and watchdog resources like USA.gov point readers to the FBI Crime Data Explorer for primary figures [12]. Political rhetoric and federal enforcement surges have sometimes focused attention on cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C., but researchers urge caution in conflating short‑term enforcement priorities with underlying trends [10].
6. Takeaway: focus on metros, neighborhoods and causes rather than single‑state blame
The strongest throughline across these sources is that the “biggest problem” with crime and gangs is geographic concentration: specific cities and neighborhoods—Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore, parts of Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland and other metros—bear the brunt of violent crime and gang activity even as national crime declines [1] [3] [6]. Accurate policy and public understanding demand neighborhood‑level data (FBI or state reports) and attention to drivers—poverty, drug markets, firearms and local policing resources—rather than headline‑friendly state‑level labels [13] [5].