🚔 The 10 Most Dangerous LGAs in Queensland

The 10 Queensland Local Government Areas with the highest weighted crime rate in 2025, ranked using QPS recorded incidents per 100,000 residents.

Published 19 May 2026 · Queensland Police Service, calendar year 2025

Out of 39 Queensland LGAs with at least 5,000 residents and reliable QPS data for 2025, these are the 10 with the highest weighted crime score. The score sums 14 personal-safety offence groups (per 100,000 residents) weighted by severity.

High-ranking Queensland LGAs cluster into two groups: remote regional centres in the state's north and west (Mount Isa, Cairns, Townsville) where persistent property crime and assault rates run far above the state average; and tourism-heavy councils (Gold Coast, Cairns) where large visitor populations inflate rates calculated on resident headcount only.

Mount Isa 18,727 residents

Safety score 77798 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

3,241.3 /100k

Down 43.8%

Motor vehicle theft

703 /100k

Down 37.2%

Non-FV assault

8,876.1 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

69.8 /100k

Up 230.4%

Steal from vehicle

949.9 /100k

Down 30.0%

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 8876/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 3241/100k Sexual offences 628/100k

Townsville 192,768 residents

Safety score 34697 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

2,390.7 /100k

Down 40.2%

Motor vehicle theft

639.8 /100k

Down 28.0%

Non-FV assault

2,598.2 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

32.7 /100k

Down 35.4%

Steal from vehicle

724.5 /100k

Stable

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 2598/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 2391/100k Sexual offences 388/100k

Mareeba 22,858 residents

Safety score 33051 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

2,476.6 /100k

Up 71.6%

Motor vehicle theft

514.2 /100k

Up 58.3%

Non-FV assault

2,719.3 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

8.2 /100k

Stable

Steal from vehicle

271.5 /100k

Down 18.5%

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 2719/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 2477/100k Sexual offences 284/100k

Cairns 166,943 residents

Safety score 32540 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

2,489.3 /100k

Down 18.8%

Motor vehicle theft

602.7 /100k

Stable

Non-FV assault

2,214 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

53.6 /100k

Down 36.0%

Steal from vehicle

529.2 /100k

Stable

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 2214/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 2489/100k Sexual offences 302/100k

Rockhampton 81,968 residents

Safety score 31201 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

1,754.7 /100k

Down 25.3%

Motor vehicle theft

626.7 /100k

Stable

Non-FV assault

2,283.9 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

37.1 /100k

Down 40.8%

Steal from vehicle

969 /100k

Up 17.2%

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 2284/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 1755/100k Sexual offences 304/100k

Charters Towers 11,794 residents

Safety score 22181 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

712.6 /100k

Down 38.9%

Motor vehicle theft

265.1 /100k

Stable

Non-FV assault

2,112.8 /100k

Down 13.4%

Robbery (unarmed)

33.1 /100k

Up 298.1%

Steal from vehicle

314.9 /100k

Up 22.0%

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 2113/100k Sexual offences 232/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 713/100k

Central Highlands 27,836 residents

Safety score 21045 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

841.5 /100k

Up 79.3%

Motor vehicle theft

309.7 /100k

Up 12.1%

Non-FV assault

1,373.4 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

6.7 /100k

Down 51.2%

Steal from vehicle

356.8 /100k

Up 43.6%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 495/100k Serious / common assault 1373/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 842/100k

Goondiwindi 10,310 residents

Safety score 20559 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

1,404.1 /100k

Down 38.9%

Motor vehicle theft

531.3 /100k

Down 34.7%

Non-FV assault

1,404.1 /100k

Down 17.1%

Robbery (unarmed)

0 /100k

Down 100.0%

Steal from vehicle

417.4 /100k

Stable

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 1404/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 1404/100k Sexual offences 199/100k

Tablelands 26,244 residents

Safety score 20545 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

1,556.7 /100k

Up 40.5%

Motor vehicle theft

414.2 /100k

Up 68.5%

Non-FV assault

1,156.9 /100k

Down 12.2%

Robbery (unarmed)

35.7 /100k

Up 62.2%

Steal from vehicle

346.3 /100k

Up 38.8%

Biggest score drivers: Unlawful entry (dwelling) 1557/100k Serious / common assault 1157/100k Sexual offences 214/100k

#10

Whitsunday 37,152 residents

Safety score 19104 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

564.6 /100k

Stable

Motor vehicle theft

263.1 /100k

Up 17.4%

Non-FV assault

1,583.7 /100k

Up 27.6%

Robbery (unarmed)

23.9 /100k

Stable

Steal from vehicle

287.1 /100k

Down 10.9%

Biggest score drivers: Serious / common assault 1584/100k Sexual offences 354/100k Unlawful entry (dwelling) 565/100k

📊 How the safety score works

For each Queensland Local Government Area we take the QPS recorded incident rates (per 100,000 residents) for 14 offence groups that materially affect personal safety, multiply each by a severity weight, and sum the result. Higher scores rank as less safe. The model is the same one used for the NSW and Victoria rankings, mapped from BOCSAR/ANZSOC categories to QPS offence columns.

QPS publishes monthly data going back to 2001. We sum the 12 monthly rates within each calendar year to get an annual rate per 100,000. Two- and ten-year trends are the percent change from 2023 and 2016 respectively, bucketed as Stable (<10%), Up, or Down.

LGAs with fewer than 5,000 residents (most Aboriginal Shire Councils and a few far-western shires) are excluded because small populations make rates statistically noisy and not comparable to urban LGAs.

For tourism-heavy LGAs (Cairns, Gold Coast, Whitsunday), interpret the score as "incidents per resident", not "risk to a resident". A more accurate denominator would include workers, students, and visitors — which QPS does not publish.

This is an ordinal ranking, not a victimisation estimate. Recorded police incidents understate some offences (sexual assault, family violence) and overstate others where reporting culture or police presence varies between LGAs.

Show offence weights

Offence group	QPS columns	Weight
Homicide	Homicide (Murder), Other Homicide, Attempted Murder, Manslaughter (excl. by driving), Manslaughter Unlawful Striking Causing Death	100
Sexual offences	Rape and Attempted Rape, Other Sexual Offences	15
Armed robbery	Armed Robbery	12
Unarmed robbery	Unarmed Robbery	8
Serious / common assault	Grievous Assault, Serious Assault, Serious Assault (Other), Common Assault'	5
Unlawful entry (dwelling)	Unlawful Entry With Intent - Dwelling, Unlawful Entry Without Violence - Dwelling, Unlawful Entry With Violence - Dwelling	4
Stalking, coercive control, extortion	Stalking, Coercive Control, Extortion, Kidnapping & Abduction etc.	3
Motor vehicle theft	Unlawful Use of Motor Vehicle	3
Stealing from dwellings	Stealing from Dwellings	2
Arson	Arson	2
Weapons offences	Unlawful Possess Concealable Firearm, Unlawful Possess Firearm - Other, Bomb Possess and/or use of, Possess and/or use other weapons; restricted items	2
Unlawful entry (shop/other)	Unlawful Entry With Intent - Shop, Unlawful Entry With Intent - Other	1
Steal from vehicle	Vehicles (steal from/enter with intent)	1
Property damage	Other Property Damage	1

Source: Queensland Police Service via data.qld.gov.au