What Are the Most Dangerous Cities in Nevada?

August 7, 2025 | Back to Blog

Nevada is famous for Las Vegas, scenic landscapes, and rapidly growing communities that attract millions of residents and visitors each year. However, like any state, localized crime rates vary across different municipalities.

If you live in or visit Nevada, understanding official crime statistics offers valuable context about public safety across different regions. According to the latest 2025 Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data released by the Nevada Department of Public Safety Records, Communications and Compliance Division, Reno maintains the highest violent crime rate among the major Nevada reporting areas analyzed, followed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department jurisdiction, Sparks, Elko, and North Las Vegas.

Nevada as a whole recorded 12,661 violent crimes in 2025, a 5.80% decrease from 2024. That statewide decline does not mean every community experienced the same trend, which is why the rankings below compare local violent-crime rates rather than simply counting the total number of offenses.

Crime rates describe reported offenses across an entire community. They do not mean every neighborhood is equally dangerous or predict whether a particular person will become a victim of crime.

What Does the 2025 Nevada Crime Data Show?

Data published by Nevada Crime Statistics through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program records 12,661 total violent crimes statewide in 2025, dropping 5.80% compared to 2024 totals. Under Nevada’s standard UCR standards, violent crime encompasses four distinct offenses:

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated assault

The 2025 statewide total included 162 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters, 1,745 rapes, 1,869 robberies, and 8,885 aggravated assaults. Aggravated assault accounted for most reported violent crime in the state.

City size matters when comparing crime. A large community may record more offenses simply because more people live there. Measuring violent crime per 100,000 residents provides a more useful comparison between communities with very different populations.

Most Dangerous Cities in Nevada Based on 2025 Violent-Crime Rates

1. Reno

Reno tops the 2025 regional comparison with a violent crime rate of approximately 546.4 per 100,000 residents. The city recorded 1,563 total violent crimes in 2025, up from 1,472 in 2024. This pushed Reno’s violent crime rate up from roughly 528.9 per 100,000 residents in the previous year.

Reno’s increase highlights why tracking annual local updates is essential. While Nevada’s statewide violent crime numbers dropped overall in 2025, Reno’s local rate moved upward. Even so, violent crime is rarely distributed evenly throughout a city, and safety conditions can vary dramatically between residential suburbs, downtown commercial zones, and nightlife districts.

2. Las Vegas Metropolitan Area

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) reported 7,122 violent crimes in 2025, reflecting a 5.46% drop from 2024. While LVMPD recorded the highest total number of offenses in Nevada due to its sheer scale, total crime count is not the same as crime rate. Based on LVMPD’s published 2025 jurisdiction population of 1,753,739 residents, the area experienced approximately 406.1 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

There is an important distinction to note regarding jurisdiction boundaries. Nevada UCR statistics for Las Vegas reflect the entire LVMPD service area, which extends beyond the incorporated City of Las Vegas to include urbanized unincorporated parts of Clark County, such as Paradise and Winchester (home to the Las Vegas Strip). Distinguishing between the city proper and the broader metropolitan jurisdiction ensures the data accurately reflects what law enforcement oversees.

3. Sparks

Sparks ranks third in the 2025 comparison with approximately 361 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. The city logged 405 violent crimes in 2025, placing its per-capita rate slightly above Elko and North Las Vegas.

Sparks demonstrates why ranking places solely by total offense volume can be misleading. Although Sparks recorded significantly fewer violent crimes overall than larger population centers like North Las Vegas, its smaller resident population results in a higher per-capita rate.

4. Elko

Elko registered 75 violent crimes in 2025, yielding a rate of approximately 359.0 per 100,000 residents. This represents a decrease from 2024, when Elko’s rate stood at roughly 397.9 per 100,000.

Because Elko has a smaller population than Northern Nevada neighbors like Reno or major southern hubs, minor shifts in the total number of reported incidents can significantly impact its overall rate per 100,000 residents. This volatility makes it helpful to review both raw numbers and per-capita calculations when evaluating rural or smaller urban centers.

5. North Las Vegas

North Las Vegas recorded 1,029 violent crimes in 2025, establishing a rate of approximately 339.7 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. This reflects a notable decline from 2024, when the city reported 1,160 violent crimes and a rate of approximately 395.8 per 100,000.

While North Las Vegas remains among the notable population centers tracked in state reporting, its 2025 violent crime rate ended up lower than Reno, the Las Vegas Metropolitan area, Sparks, and Elko.

How Were Nevada’s Most Dangerous Cities Ranked?

The comparison ranks jurisdictions primarily by reported violent crimes per 100,000 residents rather than raw incident totals. The mathematical formula used is:

Reported violent crimes ÷ population × 100,000 = violent-crime rate per 100,000 residents

Adjusting for population creates a balanced playing field when evaluating communities of unequal sizes. Without population adjustment, major urban centers would always appear at the top of crime lists simply due to their population volume.

Because UCR data is compiled from participating law enforcement agencies, understanding specific jurisdictional limits is critical. For example, comparing LVMPD’s reporting region against city-only populations would create inaccurate figures, which is why regional population metrics are applied consistently.

These figures reflect crimes officially reported to participating law enforcement agencies. They serve as broad informational markers rather than precise indicators of risk for a specific building, business, or neighborhood block.

Why Crime Rankings Matter

Understanding where violent crime is more prevalent can help both residents and visitors make informed decisions about their surroundings. It also underscores the importance of local safety measures, law enforcement resources, and legal accountability when negligence contributes to injury or harm.

However, citywide averages rarely tell the whole story. A municipality with a higher overall crime rate may contain dozens of low-risk residential areas, while an isolated violent incident can still happen in a community with very low overall rates.

In civil legal cases involving premises liability or negligent security, historical crime data in the immediate surrounding area can help establish whether a specific danger was foreseeable to a property owner. Even so, a high citywide crime rate on its own does not prove that an individual business owner acted negligently.

Did Violent Crime Increase or Decrease in Nevada in 2025?

Overall violent crime decreased across Nevada in 2025. State reports show 12,661 violent crimes, a 5.80% reduction compared to 2024 totals.

Looking closer at specific offense categories across the state:

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter dropped 22.49%
Robbery decreased by 10.23%
Aggravated assault fell by 5.54%
Reported rape remained virtually flat, showing a slight 0.06% increase

Statewide declines do not automatically mean every community saw safer trends. While North Las Vegas and Elko saw reduced violent crime rates in 2025, Reno experienced an increase in both violent crime count and per-capita rate during the same period.

What to Do If You’re a Victim of Crime or Negligence in Nevada

If you’ve been injured due to an assault, robbery, negligent security, or other criminal activity, you may be entitled to compensation.

At Morris Injury Law, we handle cases involving:

Injuries from violent crimes
Negligent hotel, casino, or apartment security
Assault at bars, clubs, or public events
Property-related injuries in high-crime areas

A criminal act does not automatically make a property owner or business responsible for an injury. Depending on the circumstances, a civil claim may arise when inadequate security or another negligent property condition contributed to foreseeable harm.

Morris Injury Law can investigate what happened, identify potentially responsible parties, preserve available evidence, and explain the legal options that may be available under Nevada law.

Contact Morris Injury Law Today

If you were injured in an assault or another incident where inadequate security may have contributed to your harm, Morris Injury Law can review the circumstances and explain the options that may be available. Whether the incident happened in Las Vegas, Reno, or elsewhere in Nevada, the facts of the particular property and incident matter more than a citywide crime ranking.

Contact Morris Injury Law to discuss your situation in a free consultation.

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