Kentucky, or the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which is its original name, is located in the south-central region of the United States. With over 4,4 million residents, it is the 26th most populous state. Its capital is Frankfurt, and major cities are Louisville and Lexington.

One of the nicknames of Kentucky is the Bluegrass State. The reason for this is the fact that the Bluegrass Region, which has a lot of fertile bluegrass pastures, lies in central Kentucky.

The first thing that comes to our minds when we think of Kentucky is probably the KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) franchise. But the economy of Kentucky covers many fields, such as the coal industry, automobile manufacturing, etc. Other things that Kentucky is famous for are bourbon, moonshine, horse racing, tobacco, bluegrass music, etc.

Kentucky is not such a safe state after all. In the period from 2015 to 2016, violent crime rate rose by 4.3%, which is a 4.0% increase per 100,000 people.

 

Ranking Criteria

Elite Personal Finance extracted data from the FBI crime statistics in the United States in 2016. We took violent crime as the main criteria. To get our score, we used this formula:

Crime Score = ( Total Number of Violent Crimes / Population ) * 1,000

This way, cities that are the safest got the lowest score and those that are more vulnerable to crime got higher scores.

The cities that did not report crimes to the FBI were not included in the list, as well as cities with population under 3,000.

 

30 Safest Places in Kentucky 2017

Rank	City	Population	Total Number of Crimes	Crime Score
1	Edgewood	8,801	0	0.00
2	Prospect	4,918	0	0.00
3	Morganfield	3,582	0	0.00
4	West Liberty	3,336	0	0.00
5	Fort Thomas	16,436	2	0.12
6	Flatwoods	7,307	1	0.14
7	Wilmore	6,315	1	0.16
8	Central City	5,875	1	0.17
9	Villa Hills	7,499	2	0.27
10	Wilder	3,099	1	0.32
11	Alexandria	9,112	4	0.44
12	Cold Spring	6,217	3	0.48
13	Bellevue	5,879	3	0.51
14	Southgate	3,871	2	0.52
15	Versailles	25,923	15	0.58
16	Hodgenville	3,259	2	0.61
17	Columbia	4,685	3	0.64
18	Shelbyville	15,488	10	0.65
19	Providence	3,042	2	0.66
20	Greenville	4,378	3	0.69
21	Highland Heights	7,216	5	0.69
22	Independence	27,227	19	0.70
23	Dayton	5,450	4	0.73
24	Taylor Mill	6,793	5	0.74
25	Grayson	4,046	3	0.74
26	Williamstown	3,946	3	0.76
27	Mount Washington	14,162	11	0.78
28	Stanford	3,668	3	0.82
29	Fort Mitchell	8,334	7	0.84
30	Benton	4,346	4	0.92

 

 

Crime Score in All Cities in Kentucky

Rank	City	Population	Total Number of Crimes	Crime Score
1	Indian Hills	2,977	0	0.00
2	Brandenburg	2,885	0	0.00
3	Dawson Springs	2,732	0	0.00
4	Eddyville	2,582	0	0.00
5	Anchorage	2,434	0	0.00
6	Horse Cave	2,351	0	0.00
7	Junction City	2,290	0	0.00
8	Jenkins	2,077	0	0.00
9	Lebanon Junction	1,937	0	0.00
10	Hurstbourne Acres	1,886	0	0.00
11	Salyersville	1,804	0	0.00
12	Catlettsburg	1,798	0	0.00
13	Pineville	1,745	0	0.00
14	Worthington	1,571	0	0.00
15	Owenton	1,552	0	0.00
16	Sebree	1,551	0	0.00
17	Pewee Valley	1,547	0	0.00
18	Audubon Park	1,515	0	0.00
19	Vanceburg	1,445	0	0.00
20	Beattyville	1,232	0	0.00
21	Brodhead	1,204	0	0.00
22	Greenup	1,151	0	0.00
23	Clay	1,134	0	0.00
24	Heritage Creek	1,126	0	0.00
25	Silver Grove	1,123	0	0.00
26	South Shore	1,097	0	0.00
27	Bloomfield	1,058	0	0.00
28	Northfield	1,057	0	0.00
29	Taylorsville	1,035	0	0.00
30	Hawesville	1,006	0	0.00
31	Lynnview	945	0	0.00
32	Ferguson	944	0	0.00
33	Elkhorn City	928	0	0.00
34	Evarts	918	0	0.00
35	Clarkson	899	0	0.00
36	New Haven	893	0	0.00
37	Adairville	888	0	0.00
38	Bellefonte	862	0	0.00
39	West Point	856	0	0.00
40	Mortons Gap	850	0	0.00
41	Burnside	845	0	0.00
42	Crab Orchard	832	0	0.00
43	Campbellsburg	831	0	0.00
44	Lewisburg	806	0	0.00
45	Millersburg	797	0	0.00
46	McKee	786	0	0.00
47	Perryville	763	0	0.00
48	Meadow Vale	762	0	0.00
49	Stamping Ground	744	0	0.00
50	Smiths Grove	740	0	0.00
51	Powderly	729	0	0.00
52	Fleming-Neon	720	0	0.00
53	Lynch	702	0	0.00
54	Science Hill	696	0	0.00
55	Bardwell	688	0	0.00
56	Inez	678	0	0.00
57	Strathmoor Village	666	0	0.00
58	Pippa Passes	661	0	0.00
59	Wingo	641	0	0.00
60	Brooksville	636	0	0.00
61	Caneyville	622	0	0.00
62	Ravenna	587	0	0.00
63	Butler	583	0	0.00
64	Wheelwright	480	0	0.00
65	Benham	463	0	0.00
66	Centertown	444	0	0.00
67	Wayland	406	0	0.00
68	Hustonville	398	0	0.00
69	Trenton	387	0	0.00
70	Woodburn	381	0	0.00
71	Gamaliel	364	0	0.00
72	Hyden	348	0	0.00
73	Mount Olivet	342	0	0.00
74	Sadieville	338	0	0.00
75	Eubank	325	0	0.00
76	Fountain Run	210	0	0.00
77	Allen	185	0	0.00
78	Booneville	75	0	0.00
79	Eminence	2,544	1	0.39
80	Hardinsburg	2,332	1	0.43
81	Tompkinsville	2,277	1	0.44
82	Liberty	2,158	1	0.46
83	Jackson	2,138	1	0.47
84	Greensburg	2,116	1	0.47
85	Sturgis	1,914	1	0.52
86	Jamestown	1,805	1	0.55
87	Warsaw	1,697	1	0.59
88	Owingsville	1,595	1	0.63
89	Edmonton	1,562	1	0.64
90	Burkesville	1,511	1	0.66
91	Flemingsburg	2,902	2	0.69
92	Pioneer Village	2,866	2	0.70
93	Russell Springs	2,525	2	0.79
94	Mount Vernon	2,497	2	0.80
95	Morgantown	2,480	2	0.81
96	Irvine	2,404	2	0.83
97	Raceland	2,383	2	0.84
98	Augusta	1,157	1	0.86
99	Cloverport	1,157	1	0.86
100	Fulton	2,195	2	0.91
101	Falmouth	2,109	2	0.95
102	Cumberland	2,078	2	0.96
103	Albany	2,008	2	1.00
104	La Center	1,004	1	1.00
105	Muldraugh	994	1	1.01
106	Whitesburg	1,982	2	1.01
107	Graymoor-Devondale	2,965	3	1.01
108	Hartford	2,765	3	1.08
109	Simpsonville	2,744	3	1.09
110	Stanton	2,651	3	1.13
111	Lewisport	1,704	2	1.17
112	Brownsville	824	1	1.21
113	Louisa	2,452	3	1.22
114	Harlan	1,619	2	1.24
115	Olive Hill	1,593	2	1.26
116	Coal Run Village	1,582	2	1.26
117	Elkton	2,181	3	1.38
118	Guthrie	1,441	2	1.39
119	Calvert City	2,521	4	1.59
120	Martin	597	1	1.68
121	Irvington	1,186	2	1.69
122	Dry Ridge	2,208	4	1.81
123	Clay City	1,089	2	1.84
124	Carlisle	2,011	4	1.99
125	Marion	2,976	6	2.02
126	Cave City	2,411	5	2.07
127	Uniontown	960	2	2.08
128	Auburn	1,354	3	2.22
129	Clinton	1,306	3	2.30
130	Munfordville	1,645	4	2.43
131	Loyall	648	2	3.09
132	Manchester	1,392	5	3.59
133	West Buechel	1,277	5	3.92
134	Cadiz	2,630	11	4.18

 

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

Rank	City	Population	Total Number of Crimes	Crime Score
1	Edgewood	8,801	0	0.00
2	Prospect	4,918	0	0.00
3	Morganfield	3,582	0	0.00
4	West Liberty	3,336	0	0.00
5	Flatwoods	7,307	1	0.14
6	Wilmore	6,315	1	0.16
7	Central City	5,875	1	0.17
8	Villa Hills	7,499	2	0.27
9	Wilder	3,099	1	0.32
10	Alexandria	9,112	4	0.44
11	Cold Spring	6,217	3	0.48
12	Bellevue	5,879	3	0.51
13	Southgate	3,871	2	0.52
14	Hodgenville	3,259	2	0.61
15	Columbia	4,685	3	0.64
16	Providence	3,042	2	0.66
17	Greenville	4,378	3	0.69
18	Highland Heights	7,216	5	0.69
19	Dayton	5,450	4	0.73
20	Taylor Mill	6,793	5	0.74
21	Grayson	4,046	3	0.74
22	Williamstown	3,946	3	0.76
23	Stanford	3,668	3	0.82
24	Fort Mitchell	8,334	7	0.84
25	Benton	4,346	4	0.92
26	Williamsburg	5,324	5	0.94
27	Springfield	3,093	3	0.97
28	Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills	6,159	6	0.97
29	Hillview	8,177	8	0.98
30	Park Hills	3,011	3	1.00
31	Hazard	5,310	6	1.13
32	Monticello	6,071	7	1.15
33	Vine Grove	5,892	7	1.19
34	Corbin	7,403	9	1.22
35	Carrollton	3,877	5	1.29
36	Leitchfield	6,904	9	1.30
37	La Grange	8,728	12	1.37
38	Paintsville	4,251	6	1.41
39	Paris	9,883	15	1.52
40	Elsmere	8,563	13	1.52
41	Russell	3,245	5	1.54
42	Fort Wright	5,801	9	1.55
43	Beaver Dam	3,640	6	1.65
44	Harrodsburg	8,399	14	1.67
45	Morehead	7,085	12	1.69
46	Prestonsburg	3,326	6	1.80
47	London	8,152	15	1.84
48	Barbourville	3,174	6	1.89
49	Lebanon	5,710	11	1.93
50	Pikeville	7,037	14	1.99
51	Maysville	8,780	19	2.16
52	Lancaster	3,873	10	2.58
53	Scottsville	4,446	12	2.70
54	Franklin	8,852	24	2.71
55	Ludlow	4,553	13	2.86
56	Cynthiana	6,421	20	3.11
57	Mount Sterling	7,268	24	3.30
58	Middlesboro	9,615	32	3.33
59	Princeton	6,142	21	3.42
60	Russellville	7,073	25	3.53
61	Oak Grove	7,431	35	4.71

 

10,000 – 30,000 Residents

Rank	City	Population	Total Number of Crimes	Crime Score
1	Fort Thomas	16,436	2	0.12
2	Versailles	25,923	15	0.58
3	Shelbyville	15,488	10	0.65
4	Independence	27,227	19	0.70
5	Mount Washington	14,162	11	0.78
6	Jeffersontown	27,006	32	1.18
7	Lawrenceburg	11,140	14	1.26
8	Danville	16,773	22	1.31
9	Berea	15,135	20	1.32
10	Erlanger	22,952	33	1.44
11	Bardstown	13,181	20	1.52
12	Madisonville	19,467	30	1.54
13	Somerset	11,482	22	1.92
14	Henderson	28,904	56	1.94
15	St. Matthews	18,127	38	2.10
16	Murray	19,182	41	2.14
17	Glasgow	14,560	33	2.27
18	Elizabethtown	29,821	68	2.28
19	Ashland	20,987	51	2.43
20	Winchester	18,461	48	2.60
21	Mayfield	10,086	27	2.68
22	Campbellsville	11,357	31	2.73
23	Shepherdsville	12,098	34	2.81
24	Radcliff	22,346	77	3.45
25	Paducah	24,836	87	3.50
26	Frankfort	27,926	105	3.76
27	Newport	15,330	59	3.85
28	Shively	15,800	93	5.89

 

Over 30,000 Residents

Rank	City	Population	Total Number of Crimes	Crime Score
1	Georgetown	33,007	57	1.73
2	Nicholasville	30,093	53	1.76
3	Richmond	33,965	75	2.21
4	Owensboro	59,359	136	2.29
5	Florence	32,671	80	2.45
6	Hopkinsville	32,222	94	2.92
7	Bowling Green	64,561	204	3.16
8	Lexington	317,853	1,079	3.39
9	Covington	41,094	204	4.96
10	Louisville Metro	683,825	4,621	6.76

 

 

How safe do you feel?

Is your city safe enough? Are you worried because of crime rate in your town? Do you have any thoughts on safety levels in the country?

If you want to share anything, feel free to leave a comment. That way, you can help us understand your perspective better.

Thank you!

 

Archives

• Safest Places to Live in Kentucky 2016
• Safest Places to Live in Kentucky 2015

 

Sources:

• Crime in the US 2016
• Population and Housing Unit Estimates
  
• United States Census 2010
  
• Wikipedia