West Memphis ranked as worst place to live in Arkansas, says HomeSnacks

Rankings released for Arkansas’ most dangerous cities

JONESBORO, Ark. – West Memphis has topped several dubious rankings released by HomeSnacks.net in November, a company that combines data from open sources to rank the best (and worst) places to live in each state.

For murders, West Memphis topped the list as the worst. The rankings combine both murder ratio for population as well as the FBI’s number of murders. 

Murder Capitals: 

Rank City Murders Murders/100K
1 West Memphis, AR 16.0 64.86
2 Helena-West Helena, AR 8.0 76.36
3 Pine Bluff, AR 15.0 35.55
4 Little Rock, AR 40.0 20.07
5 Blytheville, AR 6.0 43.34
6 North Little Rock, AR 13.0 19.57
7 Trumann, AR 3.0 42.43
8 Mountain Home, AR 3.0 24.36
9 Forrest City, AR 3.0 21.21
10 Fort Smith, AR 9.0 10.19

While some communities had more homicides, West Memphis had the second highest per capita, having a population of only 26,245 as of 2010. Other NEA communities on the list included Blytheville and Trumann, with Mountain Home and Helena-West Helena being in close proximity to the northeast area of the state.

For those curious, Jonesboro ranked 15.


There are many similarities between the most murderous cities and the most dangerous cities, in terms of who made the list. However, NEA didn’t take the top spot for this dubious honor.

Most Dangerous Cities

Rank City Population Violent Crimes Per Capita Property Crimes Per Capita
1 Little Rock 199,288 1,446 6,547
2 Pine Bluff 42,195 1,609 5,398
3 West Memphis 24,668 1,970 5,115
4 El Dorado 17,916 1,093 5,966
5 Osceola 6,819 2,317 4,604
6 Blytheville 13,843 989 6,046
7 Forrest City 14,144 933 6,235
8 Helena-West Helena 10,477 1,498 4,495
9 Jacksonville 28,530 1,160 4,633
10 Trumann 7,071 791 5,147

Cities with over 5,000 in population are considered for the list, meaning many communities in NEA are ineligible. These rankings use violent crimes and property crimes to determine

This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. – HomeSnacks/RoadSnacks

The company doesn’t mince words and released an even more controversial list compiling the worst places to live in Arkansas. This list combines both higher than average crime rates with bad economic situations to tally up what the company boldly labels the “worst.”

Worst Places to Live in Arkansas for 2020

Rank City Population Unemployment Rate Home Value
1 West Memphis 25,009 10.9% $84,600
2 Camden 11,152 7.0% $76,300
3 Helena-West Helena 10,965 12.2% $75,600
4 Blytheville 14,298 10.2% $80,400
5 Osceola 7,049 11.9% $76,500
6 Hot Springs 36,969 9.0% $117,200
7 Newport 7,695 7.3% $76,700
8 Pine Bluff 43,840 13.0% $75,900
9 El Dorado 18,129 8.9% $89,600
10 Hope 9,847 6.2% $77,700

The company insists that these lists are unbiased and made based on data from sources like the FBI, the US Census, and other public sources.

Although there are many “bad” lists on the site, there are just as many lists of positive places to be across The Natural State. HomeSnacks released rankings like the safest cities, the best place for singles, and the best places to retire. You can see how NEA fared in those lists by clicking here. 

1 Comment

  1. There’s only one reason why these cities and towns are on this list. You know it, we all know it.

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  1. The best Arkansas city to retire in is Batesville, says HomeSnacks – NEA Report

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