Simmrin Law Group, using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, analyzed the reported number of crime incidents between 2019 and 2021 for 47 states for which data was available

Brett Davis
The Center Square Washington

Washington ranks among the top 10 states in terms of the highest number of reported incidents of crime, according to a new report.

California-based criminal defense law firm Simmrin Law Group has the Evergreen State in seventh place on its list of included states.

Simmrin Law Group, using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, analyzed the reported number of crime incidents between 2019 and 2021 for 47 states for which data was available and compared this with state population size to determine the average number of incidents per 100,000 people.

California, Florida and New Jersey were not included in the final ranking due to missing significant data that would have skewed the results.

Washington, with a total population of more than 7.7 million, earned its seventh-place spot with an average of 4,923 crime incidents per 100,000 people between 2019 and 2021. It had 4,936 incidents per 100,000 people in 2021; 5,120 incidents in 2020; and 4,713 incidents in 2019.

“This study highlights the rise and fall of reported crime incidents per 100,000 people each year across the United States,” said Michael Simmrin, managing partner and Simmrin Law Group founder, in an email touting the report. “It is important to note that these results are based on figures released to the public, so there may be incidents that were not recorded and are therefore unaccounted for.”

He concluded, “Notably, the studied years cover the beginning and end of the COVID-19 pandemic period, which could explain the drop in reported incidents that some states experienced after 2019. Overall, it will be interesting to see how drastically this ranking might evolve as the figures for subsequent years become available.” 

Per the study, the 10 states with the highest number of reported crimes are:

1. Arkansas

2. Tennessee

3. South Carolina

4. Delaware

5. North Dakota

6. Colorado

7. Washington

8. Oregon

9. South Dakota

10. Utah

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.