15 Acadiana Towns Ranked by Reported Crime Rates

ACADIANA, La. - We always see lists ranking Louisiana and America's safest and least safest cities, but what about right here in Acadiana? How does it look in Acadiana when the safest to least safest cities are ranked?

The latest complete numbers from the FBI cover 2024, and they give us a way to compare reported violent crime rates among communities across Acadiana.

For this list, we're looking at the violent crime rate per 100,000 residents. That measurement is important because simply counting crimes can make larger cities look worse than smaller communities.

The FBI's violent-crime category includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The numbers are based on crimes reported to participating law-enforcement agencies.

So, with that out of the way, let's take a look at how some Acadiana communities compare.

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Rayne Has The Lowest Reported Violent Crime Rate

According to the 2024 FBI data, Rayne, Louisiana comes in at the lowest rate among the communities on our list, meaning Rayne is the safest town in Acadiana by the numbers.

Rayne recorded a violent crime rate of 72.4 per 100,000 residents. The Frog Capital of the World recorded five violent crimes in 2024, all classified as aggravated assaults.

Here's how the rest of the list stacks up using the data from the FBI -

1. Rayne — 72.4 per 100,000
Rayne had the lowest reported violent crime rate on our list, with a population of about 6,900 and five reported violent crimes in 2024.

2. Broussard — 194.6 per 100,000
Broussard recorded a violent crime rate of 194.6 per 100,000 residents in 2024. The community had a population of roughly 14,900 in the FBI data.

3. Youngsville — 236.4 per 100,000
Youngsville's reported violent crime rate was 236.4 per 100,000 residents, putting it near the top of the Acadiana list.

4. Carencro — 414.7 per 100,000
Carencro recorded a rate of 414.7 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024. The FBI-derived data lists 13,985 residents for the city.

The International Rice Festival, Facebook

5. Crowley — 532.0 per 100,000
Crowley recorded a reported violent crime rate of about 532 per 100,000 residents.

6. Eunice — 565.0 per 100,000
Eunice's 2024 reported violent crime rate was approximately 565 per 100,000 residents.

7. Ville Platte — 636.0 per 100,000
Ville Platte recorded a reported violent crime rate of approximately 636 per 100,000 residents.

8. Scott — 661.7 per 100,000
Scott recorded 59 violent crimes in 2024, producing a rate of 661.7 per 100,000 residents. The FBI-derived data also shows 146 property crimes in the city.

9. Abbeville — 775.0 per 100,000
Abbeville's reported violent crime rate was 775.0 per 100,000 residents in 2024.

10. Church Point — 803.6 per 100,000
Church Point recorded a violent crime rate of 803.6 per 100,000 residents. The FBI-derived population figure for the town was about 4,000.

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, Facebook

11. Breaux Bridge — 809.9 per 100,000
Breaux Bridge came in at 809.9 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in the 2024 data.

12. Jennings — 1,007.6 per 100,000
Jennings recorded a reported violent crime rate of 1,007.6 per 100,000 residents.

13. New Iberia — 1,009.3 per 100,000
New Iberia's reported violent crime rate was 1,009.3 per 100,000 residents in 2024. The city had a population of about 26,600 in the FBI data.

14. Lafayette — 1,066.1 per 100,000
Lafayette recorded 1,066.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024. Because Lafayette is considerably larger than most of the communities on this list, it's also worth remembering that a rate is being used here specifically to make communities of different sizes easier to compare.

15. Opelousas — 1,369.3 per 100,000
Opelousas had the highest reported violent crime rate among the communities included here, at 1,369.3 per 100,000 residents. The FBI-derived data lists a population of about 15,300.

This isn't a definitive statement that one town is "safe" and another is "dangerous."

These are reported crime rates, and that's an important distinction.

The FBI's 2024 statistics came from participating law-enforcement agencies across the country. The FBI notes that its crime statistics are based on data submitted to its Uniform Crime Reporting program.

You can read more crime data collected about Acadiana over at crimegrade.org.

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