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.

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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.