The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

There is a web site called “ONLY IN YOUR STATE” that lists everything from the most haunted places in our state to the worst places to live due to crime.

In the interest of information only, “the Mountaineer” is publishing the list of the ten most crime ridden towns to live in, in Montana. We urge you to take this list with a grain of salt. It would appear that some of our larger cities that do not even warrant a mention, just might be much worse than those listed.

1. Polson. Based on FBI data, Polson has the most property crimes per capita of any city in the state.

2. Ronan which is ranked first in violent crimes in Montana.

3. Billings which is ranked second in the state for property crime and tenth for violent crime.

4. Wolf Point which is located in the second most violent part of Montana with odds of 1 in 173 of being a victim.

5. Hamilton is ranked third in Montana for violent crime.

6. Havre which is ranked fourth in Montana for violent crime rates with residents having a five percent chance of being the victim of theft or arson.

7. Kalispell because between 2011 and 2013 violent crime rates went up eleven percent.

8. Missoula because it is ranked eighth in Montana for violent crime.

9. Helena which is ninth in Montana for both property crime and violent crime. In 2013 residents of Helena had a 1 in 263 chance of being a victim of violence and a 1 in 23 chance of being the victim of property crime.

10. Cut Bank which barely makes the list because violent crime has fallen in Cut Bank. It is ranked eighth in Montana for violent crime.