In case you missed it, Colorado was recently deemed one of the most dangerous places to live in the country by U.S. News and World Report this past May – somehow performing even worse than its 2024 ranking as the 3rd-most dangerous state.

The two key factors that were considered in the 2025 update were violent crime rates and property crime rates, based on FBI estimates.

Once the numbers were crunched, Colorado was ranked as the 2nd-most dangerous place to live nationwide, behind only New Mexico.

Violent crime and property crime rates in New Mexico were determined to be 749 and 2,887 crimes per 100,000, respectively compared to Colorado’s 474 and 2,879. In other words, while property crime rates were similar, Colorado was significantly less violent.

It’s also worth noting that Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alaska, and California were all ‘top 10 dangerous states’ that had higher rates of violent crime compared to Colorado. Considering that reality, it’s easy to tell that property crime is what hurt Colorado the most in the rankings – the only states with higher property crime rates than Colorado were New Mexico and Washington (both estimated at 2,887 property crimes per 100,000).

Considering Colorado’s population of about six million residents, this would mean that 28,440 residents fall victim to violent crime annually, along with 172,740 that fall victim to property crime.

Of U.S. News and World Report’s ’10 most dangerous states of 2025,’ Washington and Colorado still managed to eek out a high ranking on the publication’s greater ‘best states to live in‘ ranking, ranking 10th and 11th, respectively.

Even with the high rates of crime in Colorado – specifically property crime – the state still manages to perform well as a ‘best place to live’ overall thanks to its health care, its economy, its education system, and its infrastructure.

Do you feel like Colorado deserves to be called the 2nd-most dangerous state to live in nationwide? Let us know in the comments.