The Federal Bureau of Investigation regularly publishes all kinds of statistics concerning crime in the United States. The most recent statistics concerning violent crimes are available for the period between January and June 2015 and they provide quite an interesting insight into the most violent cities in the 50 states. The statistics only looked at cities with a population of over 100,000 people, so states without cities over 100.000 residents will not be represented.
The least violent state, if we are judging by this statistics, at least among those states that have large enough cities, is Hawaii. Its most violent city is also its biggest – Honolulu, which reported 11.6 violent crimes per 10,000 residents in the aforementioned period. For a city of that size (almost a million residents), Honolulu posted incredibly low figures.
In Idaho, the most violent city was Boise, with 13.5 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. Perhaps the most interesting fact about Boise’s numbers is that they didn’t have a single murder in the period covered by the figures.
In North Dakota, the city of Fargo is the most violent, reporting 14.6 crimes per 10,000 residents. Their overall numbers were really low.
In Oregon, Eugene just barely “won” over Salem, posting pretty much the same numbers, but since the city has about 3,000 residents fewer, it came out as the most violent in the state, with 15.3 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.
The only city to make the statistics in Nebraska was Lincoln, with 17.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. South Dakota also had just one city on the list, Sioux Falls, boasting just over 20 violent crimes per 10,000, with 20.6. Much like the previous two cities, Billings ended up on the list simply because it was the only city large enough in Montana to make the cut. Billings had 21.1 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.
In Virginia, a number of cities posted very similar numbers of violent crimes, but in the end, the city with the highest relative number of violent crimes was Norfolk which reported 24.5 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. Virginia Beach, a city almost twice the size of Norfolk had half the number of violent crimes over the period in question.
Providence, Rhode Island made the list, once again as the sole representative of its state due to the size of other cities and towns. Providence reported 26.6 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. In New Hampshire, it was Manchester, with 28.9 violent crimes.
In Kentucky, it was a battle of Lexington and Louisville and in the end, Louisville took home the prize as the most violent city in the state, with 30.2 violent crimes per 10,000 people. In Indiana, South Bend was the most violent city, with 32.2 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.
The second-largest city in Arizona, Tucson made the list, with 32.4 violent crimes for every 10,000 people living there. In South Carolina, the situation was very interesting, with Charleston and North Charleston battling it out. North Charleston reported more than twice the violent crime numbers than Charleston, despite being a third smaller. It reported 34.8 violent crimes per 10,000.
In the State of Washington, a surprising “winner”, at least for us, was Tacoma which reported 36.6 violent crimes per every 10,000 residents. It was by far the most violent city in Washington.
Salt Lake City represents Utah on the list, with 38.2 violent crimes per 10,000 for the overall 28th spot on our list. Iowa is represented by Des Moines which had 38.7 violent crimes for every 10,000 residents. In Colorado, Pueblo is the most violent city, with reported 41.6 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.
If you thought that Oklahoma City would be the most violent city in Oklahoma, you were wrong. It was Tulsa which reported 41.5 violent crimes per 10,000 residents, a much higher number than Oklahoma City. In Louisiana, New Orleans was the most violent, with 42.7 violent crimes per 10,000 people.
As far as North Carolina was concerned, Durham was the most violent city by far, posting worryingly high numbers, reporting a much higher total number of crimes than Greensboro, a city which has 32,000 more residents. Durham reported 42.8 crimes per 10,000 residents. In Mississippi, it was Jackson, with 43.2 violent crimes.
North Las Vegas topped the Nevadan cities, with 43.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents, while Wichita took home the “gold” for Kansas, with 45.5 violent crimes. In New Mexico, it was Albuquerque with 48.2 violent crimes and in Pennsylvania, it was Philadelphia with 49.1 per 10,000.
Buffalo is the most violent city in New York, the first city on the list with over 50 violent crimes per 10,000 people, with 50.2. Newark represents New Jersey with the same number, 50.2. Odessa is the most violent city in Texas, with 51.8 violent crimes for every 10,000 residents, out-crime-ing Dallas and Houston.
In Florida, it is Tallahassee that tops the list of most violent cities, with 52.8 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. In Alaska, it is Anchorage, with 53.6 and an alarmingly high number of rapes. Springfield represents Massachusetts on the list, with 54.4 violent crimes for every 10,000 residents. Georgia is represented by Atlanta and the 55.7 violent crimes per 10,000.
Hartford, Connecticut is the first city to make it to Top 10, with 55.8 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. Cleveland, Ohio reported 61.5 violent crimes and Milwaukee reported 65.3 to lead Wisconsin. To the surprise of some, Stockton is the most violent city in California, with 67.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. In Maryland, it is Baltimore with 67.7.
In Illinois, it is Rockford with 76.3 violent crimes per 10,000 and in Alabama, it is Birmingham with 82.8 violent crimes. The overall third city is Detroit which represents Michigan, boasting 83.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents. Memphis, Tennessee is in spot #2 with 84.2 and in the first place is St. Louis, the most violent city in Missouri with 88.1 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.
