Missouri’s 20 Safest Cities of 2024

See crime rates for the safest cities.

In our latest State of Safety survey, people in Missouri worried about their safety overall (46%) about as much as most Americans (47%). Still, the state has higher crime rates than most states. Missouri's violent crime rates and property crime rates have both risen since the year before.  The Show Me State's safest cities have lower-than-average crime rates compared to the state, though.

Missouri has one of the highest crime rates in the nation for both violent crime and property crime. Missouri had the ninth-highest property crime rate nationally. It also ranks as the sixth state for the highest violent crime rates. Violent crime went up in Missouri from 5.3 per 1,000 to 5.6. Property crimes also increased from 23.8 per 1,000 to 24.4. 

Missouri has the ninth-highest property crime rate in the country this year. This lines up with surveyed residents reporting an increase in personal experiences with property crime. On the whole, the state saw slightly more property crimes per 1,000 people year over year.

• Compared to the last year (28%), more Missourians reported personal experiences with property crime this reporting year (36%).
• 60% of participants reported experiencing package theft in the 12 months prior to the survey. That's up 7% from the previous year.
• Even though The Show Me State’s property crime rate is higher than average, it’s trending only slightly upward.
• 21% of Missouri residents surveyed use no form of property protection (US 25%).
• The top form of property protection in Missouri this year was security cameras, with 40% of survey respondents using them. This almost matches the national average (39%). 
• 40% of Missourians say they increased the security/safety measures of their property.

Survey responses in Missouri reflect the state's above-average violent crime rate, with fewer than half of residents feeling safe in the state. High percentages of personal experiences with gun violence could play a role in this mentality. 

• 32% of survey respondents in Missouri reported feeling safe in their state compared to 45% of Americans.
• 21% of Missourians reported having a personal experience with violent crime in the past 12 months—up 50% from last year.
• 55% of The Show Me State residents surveyed reported concern over violent crime.
• 42% of survey participants report using some form of personal protection—making Missourians more likely to do this than the national average of 36%.

• 58% of Missouri residents cited gun violence as a safety concern—higher than the US average of 51%.
• 26% of survey participants reported an experience with gun violence in the 12 months prior to our survey.
• Reported experiences with gun violence is up 117% from the year before.
• There were 15 mass shootings in Missouri in the 2023 reporting year, up one from the year before (14).
• 31% said they use a concealed firearm as protection (US 41%).

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• Missouri had 134 cities that qualified for our safest cities list this year.
• Seven safest cities reported zero murders, rapes, and robberies.
• Cottleville, Missouri's #1 city, was the only city to report zero burglaries. 
• Cottleville also only reported one violent crime (aggravated assault).
• Ashland was the only city to report zero motor vehicle thefts. 
• Both Poplar Bluff and Glendale are new to our list this year and clenched second and third place.
• Glendale reported zero violent crimes for the year. It was the only town that was able to do it.
• Battlefield made the biggest jump on our list. It flew up 39 spots to make it to #14.
• Desloge had our biggest drop. It fell 44 spots.

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Find all endnotes and sources in our full methodology.

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed March 18, 2024.

• 2022 and 2021 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
  • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
• 2022 NIBRS Estimation Tables

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed March 18, 2024.

Gun Violence Archive, "Mass Shootings." Accessed March 18, 2023.