The Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in North Carolina (2024)

Tiny towns in North Carolina are super safe while its biggest cities are in the middle as far as crime rates are considered. Some of its least safe cities are small towns ― where homicides have increased.

North Carolina, home to the first recorded heavier-than-air flight by humans ― along a beach in Kitty Hawk where there was plenty of water all around for crash landings ― is also home to increasing homicides and violent crime rates since the pandemic in 2020.

Spruce Pine, a tiny town with a history of racial violence over a hundred years ago, is now one of the two safest cities in the state as far as property crimes and violent crimes go. With a population of 2,194 as reported in the 2020 census, many residents know one another and get along well without much violence, theft, or vandalism.

According to the latest crime data compiled by the FBI, Drexel is another of the safest cities in the Tar Heel State.

Charlotte, the most populous city in North Carolina, with a population closing in on a million people, wasn’t the safest or the least safe city but ranked around the bottom third according to reported crime incidents. Raleigh, the state capital, was also in the middle by most recent crime statistics but is safer overall than Charlotte in terms of both property and violent crime.

Statewide Crime Trends in North Carolina

North Carolina crime rates have increased markedly in the most recent years, according to a report by the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation. Homicide led to this increase in violent crime, unfortunately. The foundation's data indicate crime in the state rose by more than 50 percent over its prepandemic average. The economic and social dislocations of 2020 coincided with increases in violent crime in North Carolina that have not yet abated.

Charlotte had a violent crime rate of 746 per 100,000, according to the latest federal crime data. Durham had a violent crime rate of 687. The most unsafe city is Wadesboro, with a violent crime rate of 2,621 and a property crime rate of 7,764.

Property Crime in North Carolina

North Carolina ranked 15 among all states for property crime with more property crime than 70% of states in the United States. Its overall state property crime rate per 100,000 was 2,064.

Charlotte ranked in the bottom half of all North Carolina cities by property crime per 100,000 — with 3,375 property crimes per 100,000 people annually. Raleigh was in the bottom half of cities as well but did better than Charlotte, with 2,335 property crimes per 100,000 people.

Violent Crime in North Carolina

North Carolina ranked 19 out of all states for violent crime. It had a state average violent crime rate of 405 per 100,000 in the most recent year for which statistics are available.

The most violent city in North Carolina is Wadesboro, a community of around 5,000 people located southeast of Charlotte. Two of the least violent cities were Weaverville and Davidson, both located in Mecklenburg County.

Our Data

Our data comes from comprehensive reporting compiled by the FBI and accessed via the Crime Data Explorer (CDE) website. Property and violent crime state figures were drawn from Table 5 of the 2022 Crime in the U.S. Report. Metropolitan figures were found in Table 6, Crime in the U.S. by Metropolitan Statistical Area. City-level figures were drawn from Table 8, Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City. The population figures in that table are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2020.

Limitations: According to the FBI, the data in the publication tables may differ from those released on the Explorer Pages of the CDE. These variations are due to the difference in methodologies between the publication tables and data displayed on the CDE. Please note that crime statistics are not the sole measure of a city’s safety.