McDonald County Crime & Safety

McDonald County has a total crime rate of 1783.5 per 100,000 residents, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data. This includes both violent crimes (697.1 per 100K) and property crimes (1086.4 per 100K).

McDonald County has a safety score of 27/100, rated "High Crime". A higher safety score indicates lower crime rates relative to other counties nationwide. It ranks #83 out of 115 counties in Missouri for safety (1 = safest).

The county's safety score of 97.2 is just slightly above the Missouri state average of 97.0. Its total crime rate of 1,783.5 is also lower than the state average of 1,926.2.

The violent crime rate in McDonald County is 697.1 per 100,000, which is nearly double the national average of 369.8. Property crime is lower than national levels, standing at 1,086.4 incidents per 100,000 residents.

Crime data for McDonald County comes from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Local law enforcement agencies submit data on violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) to the FBI. Rates are calculated per 100,000 residents to allow fair comparison between counties of different sizes. The safety score (0-100) is derived from these rates, with higher scores indicating safer counties.

McDonald County has a safety score of 27/100, which is below the Missouri average of 44/100. Many counties with above-average crime rates invest in community policing, crime prevention programs, neighborhood watch initiatives, and social services aimed at reducing crime over time.