The 25 Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S. Are Mostly Nice Places
According to a study of FBI crime statistics by CQ Press, St. Louis, Mo. was the "most dangerous city in the U.S." in 2010, probably due to former St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire's uncontrollable steroid-murder rages. Here's the top 25:
1. St. Louis, MO
2. Camden, NJ
3. Detroit, MI
4. Flint, MI
5. Oakland, CA
6. Richmond, CA
7. Cleveland, OH
8. Compton, CA
9. Gary, IN
10. Birmingham, AL
11. Baltimore, MD
12. Memphis, TN
13. New Orleans, LA
14. Jackson, MS
15. Little Rock, AR
16. Baton Rouge, LA
17. Buffalo, NY
18. New Haven, CT
19. Hartford, CT
20. Dayton, OH
21. Kansas City, MO
22. Washington, DC
23. Newark, NJ
24. Cincinnati, OH
25. Atlanta, GA
You can look at the full list here. New York City ended up at number 269; San Francisco at 130; Los Angeles proper at 158; and Chicago wasn't ranked because its "rape numbers were not available," which is just a bone-chilling phrase any way you cut it, huh? The "safest" city with more than 75,000 residents in 2010 was Colonie, N.Y., which has such a terrifically evocative name for a "safe" city that I sort of don't believe it exists.
And honestly? A lot of the top 25 are pretty okay places! (Except for Washington, D.C., which is a horrible, horrible city.) Even Camden has a pretty nice aquarium. I mean: Ranking cities based on their crime rates is a pretty depressing and frankly sort of irresponsible way to think about cities, and crime, and urban living, and so forth! But let's not let that stop us from making lists, which, as we all know, is the best thing about being human.
