Denver Violent Crimes: The Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in 2022

More than 7,000 violent crimes took place in Denver during 2022, with a large percentage concentrated in the central city.

These are among the takeaways from newly updated statistics from the FBI's National Incident Based Reporting System and the Denver Crime Map, an online tool maintained by the Denver Police Department that provides information about offenses in all 78 official city neighborhoods plus Union Station, an area targeted for extra enforcement by the DPD.

The Denver Crime Map's annual figures are consistent with previous Westword reports about violent crime in Denver; the six sections of Denver with the most troubling stats in our November update appear in the same order on the rundown for last year as a whole.

Denver defines violent crime as murder, robbery, aggravated assault and sexual assault, similar to the NIBRS statistics. The NIBRS's violent-crimes total for Denver in 2022 hit 7,119, which is substantially higher than its figures for 2019 (5,118), 2020 (5,808) and 2021 (6,348), indicating a steady rise in such offenses over recent years.

The Denver Crime Map violations for 2022, which come to 4,973, are linked to the locations where they occurred. But because Denver neighborhoods differ in size, the DPD also calculates crime density — the number of violent offenses per square mile. This metric puts neighborhood-to-neighborhood comparisons in greater perspective.

An example: Gateway-Green Valley Ranch and Montbello registered two of the higher violent-crime totals last year — 210 and 233, respectively. But because they're so geographically large, the crime density in Gateway-Green Valley Ranch, 28.52 per square mile, and Montbello, 46.03 per square mile, fell below 24 of the 25 Denver neighborhoods atop the category.

The list of areas with a violent-crime density of more than fifty per square mile is led by Union Station, followed by Civic Center, the Central Business District (CBD), North Capitol Hill and Capitol Hill. And while some outlying neighborhoods are included on this roster, the overwhelming majority can be found near the heart of Denver.

Continue to see the 25 sections of Denver with a violent-crime density of more than fifty per square mile during 2022, in descending order. Also included is a link to a document with offense and violent-crime-density data from last year for all 78 Denver neighborhoods plus Union Station.

25. Baker
Offense Count: 75
Crime Density: 50.27 per square mile

24. Mar Lee
Offense Count: 80
Crime Density: 53.09 per square mile

23. Highland
Offense Count: 63
Crime Density: 54.64 per square mile

22. Ruby Hill
Offense Count: 80
Crime Density: 55.10 per square mile

21. College View-South Platte
Offense Count: 82
Crime Density: 56.20 per square mile

20. Speer
Offense Count: 53
Crime Density: 62.06 per square mile

19. Barnum
Offense Count: 54
Crime Density: 70.04 per square mile

18. Whittier
Offense Count: 41
Crime Density: 72.82 per square mile

17. Goldsmith
Offense Count: 56
Crime Density: 72.44 per square mile

16. Sun Valley
Offense Count: 50
Crime Density: 77.88 per square mile

15. Cheesman Park
Offense Count: 42
Crime Density: 79.70 per square mile

14. Kennedy
Offense Count: 58
Crime Density: 82.62 per square mile

13. Cole
Offense Count: 45
Crime Density: 87.89 per square mile

12. Villa Park
Offense Count: 88
Crime Density: 89.25 per square mile

11. Lincoln Park
Offense Count: 114
Crime Density: 89.34 per square mile

10. Westwood
Offense Count: 135
Crime Density: 90.18 per square mile

9. West Colfax
Offense Count: 141
Crime Density: 140.16 per square mile

8. City Park West
Offense Count: 84
Crime Density: 157.01 per square mile

7. East Colfax
Offense Count: 170
Crime Density: 159.03 per square mile

6. Five Points
Offense Count: 371
Crime Density: 211.03 per square mile

5. Capitol Hill
Offense Count: 175
Crime Density: 258.88 per square mile

4. North Capitol Hill
Offense Count: 100
Crime Density: 283.29 per square mile

3. CBD (Central Business District)
Offense Count: 157
Crime Density: 364.27 per square mile

2. Civic Center
Offense Count: 115
Crime Density: 378.29 per square mile

1. Union Station
Offense Count: 181
Crime Density: 412.30 per square mile

Click to access violent-crime statistics for every Denver neighborhood plus Union Station from January 1 to December 31, 2022.

This story has been updated to reflect that the Denver Crime Map includes sexual assault in its reporting.