#1 Detroit, Mich.
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan DistrictPopulation: 1,895,974
Detroit, Mich.
Detroit consistently ranks as one of America’s most crime-ridden cities, and it comes in first on our list for 2010 with 1,111 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. A precipitous drop in population and employment rates due to suburbanization and the struggles of the Big Three automakers is a big factor, leaving the city strapped of funds to devote to basic services like education and public safety. “Year in, year out, and decade after decade, there’s been a very large population loss,” says Brian Stults, an assistant professor of criminology at Florida State University. “A large section of the population is gone, and they’re not the people doing crime to begin with.”
#2 Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical AreaPopulation: 1,313,722
Memphis, Tenn.
The Memphis metropolitan area logged 1,006 violent crimes per 100,000 residents last year, down from 1,146 in 2009. Chronic poverty likely plays a role – 19.1% of the residents of the were below the poverty line in 2010, making it the most impoverished large metro area in the country, according to Census Bureau data. But detailed record keeping also plays a part in why Memphis ranks so highly on our list: the city's police department adopted a data-driven approach to policing in 2006 called Blue Crush that relies on accurate incident tracking, for which it adopted the FBI’s meticulous crime reporting method known as the National Incident-Based Reporting System. As a result, it may be recording crimes that in other cities would go unreported to the FBI. Though the crime rate remains comparatively high, the Memphis Police Department says that serious crime has dropped more than 25% since it began the Blue Crush program in 2006.
#3 Springfield, Ill.
Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area
Population: 206,601
Springfield, Ill.
The capital city of Illinois, Springfield ranks third on our list because it had 855 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2010. The city also confounds analysts who try to interpret its relatively high crime rate. The unemployment rate was lower than the national average at 7% as of July, so the economy wouldn’t seem to play a major role in crime. And although meth usage saw a small spike in the mid-2000s, a law passed a few years ago making the necessary pharmaceutical ingredients harder to buy seems to have cut down on abuse. There are also poorer neighborhoods – literally on the other side of the railroad tracks – that tend to have higher rates of poverty and the higher rates of crime that accompany that, which contributes to the city’s overall higher rate of crime. Another factor could be Springfield’s relatively young population – 66% of the city is under the age of 44 – and relatively younger populations are historically correlated with higher rates of crime.
#4 Flint, Mich.
Flint, MI Metropolitan Statistical AreaPopulation: 419,608
Flint, Mich.
With 827 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, Flint is an example of a city where a lousy local economy and a high unemployment rate have fueled crime. The area has lost thousands of auto manufacturing jobs, and as with Detroit, there’s been a drop in population. “People don’t have jobs, they don’t have money for food, so they become a lot more desperate, and these trends take a long time to reverse,” says Megan Wolfram, an intelligence analyst at the risk assessment firm iJET.
#5 Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, AK Metropolitan Statistical AreaPopulation: 313,181
Anchorage, Alaska
With 813 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, Anchorage has a somewhat higher crime rate than cities of comparable size, and a rate that is double the size of Alaska as a whole. It is the largest city in the state, but it also has the largest rate of forcible rape, which contributes to Anchorage’s high crime statistics. Property crime, while not factored into our survey, is also double Alaska’s rate. Methamphetamine use has been a perennial problem in Anchorage and elsewhere in the state, and although laws have been passed to limit access to the pharmaceuticals necessary to manufacture meth in the state, a steady supply of the drug is still flowing in from Mexico.
#6 Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock, TX Metropolitan Statistical AreaPopulation: 278,595
Lubbock, Texas
With 808 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, the “Hub City,” as it is known, is an interesting example. Though it is in the northwestern part of the state, Lubbock may be the unfortunate beneficiary of its location as a transit hub for drugs coming north from Mexico. A few high-profile busts of gang members and of methamphetamine and cocaine dealers in the past few years attest to Lubbock’s difficulties with gang activities and drugs.
#7 Stockton, Calif.
Stockton, CA Metropolitan Statistical AreaPopulation: 686,072
Stockton, Calif.
Stockton, with 805 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, is a clearer example of a metropolitan area that suffers from its location on one of the nation’s many drug transit routes – Route I-5 runs right through the town, serving as a conduit for drugs from Mexico all the way up the Pacific coast. Wolfram says the drug trade has led to competing gangs competing for turf, which has fueled violence.
#8 Tallahassee, Fla.
Tallahassee, FL Metropolitan Statistical AreaPopulation: 363,918
Tallahasee, Fla.
Florida’s capital city, Tallahassee, leads the state in crime with 775 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Its location on Interstate 10 makes it an attractive city for drug runners who bring contraband north from Miami and the surrounding area. The Tallahassee Police Department has stressed the need to boost funds to interdict drugs moving north, and a high rate of aggravated assaults seems to accompany the drug trafficking, according to Stults. Poverty also plays a role. “At the city level, poverty is one of the strongest predictors of crime rate, and there are definitely large pockets of poverty in Tallahassee – like most cities of its size, it is also segregated, and that contributes to higher crime rates in some areas,” says Stults.
#9 Las Vegas, Nev.
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area Population: 1,951,609
Las Vegas, Nev.
Sin City lives up to its nickname with 763 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in the metro area in 2010, which includes 4,696 robberies and 9,296 aggravated assaults. The area's housing bust plays a role -- once one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, Las Vegas now features acres of homes that stand empty or incomplete. “We know that higher rates of foreclosure due to predatory lending contribute to crime rates,” says Stults. “There does appear to be a correlation between foreclosure rates and crime rates, and when you have neighborhoods where there are empty houses there are fewer people to keep an eye on things.” Population churn due to home or job loss also plays a part. “Anytime you have high turnover it creates higher instability, and that can boost crime rates,” says Stults.
Rockford, Ill.
Rockford, with 760 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, is one of those towns where the crime rate stems from a complex series of factors. It switched last year to the National Incident-Based Reporting system, which as with Memphis, helps to keep more accurate records, but also can result in reported rates of crime that are higher than other cities that use different reporting mechanisms. “Unfortunately, not every city wants to use that system because it often results in higher rates of crime in the reports,” says Stults. Interstate 39, which is located on the eastern edge of the city and heads north to Wisconsin, could also be a factor, as again, larger interstate highways tend to be popular routes for drug couriers to use for distribution, and Rockford’s proximity to Chicago makes it attractive as a waypoint for drug couriers.
