The Most Dangerous Cities in the United States

The are drawbacks to every big city in the United States, especially if you’re kind of a country mouse. Obviously, moving to a big city will require some research to determine which neighborhoods and locals are going to be the best. Each year, several different publications release their lists of the worst neighborhoods in the country. While the average person would think that the nation’s huge cities like New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles would top the list, they would be wrong. For each of the cities that are listed, there is research done to determine the amount of violent crime and how that crime affects the population.

While some smaller locales to make the list, many of the cities are on the larger side and some of them fluctuate often based on how poverty rates impact the amount of criminal activity. While not all of these cities are meant to be avoided, living in or relocating to one of these areas may be a bit trickier than other locations. Many of the cities that fall into the Top Ten or Top Twenty-Five dangerous spots used to be thriving areas that featured stunning architecture and flourishing neighborhoods. Unemployment and downsizing have certainly left their mark on some of America’s oldest areas, and they’ve fallen on tough times.

The Not List

Here are the top three cities that have fallen on hard times in recent years, thus landing them on the list of dangerous places to live:

1. Detroit, Michigan –Formerly home to some of the best work in the country because of the proximity of all of the American automakers, Detroit was once a thriving area. There were plenty of great businesses, happy residents, and average crime rates. In 1950, the population of Detroit was over a 1.8 million. Now, it’s less than 700,000. As the job potential decreased, so did the population, while the crime simply increased. For a family of four in the United States, the poverty level is $28k, and the average household income in Detroit is just over $25k. With over 300 murders, a 40% poverty rate, and almost 11% unemployment, the city seems to have lost hope.

2. St. Louis Missouri –The city was named for French King Louis the IX and was meant to be a fur-trading village. It also plays host to a free zoo, art museum, history museum, and science center, thus attracting some impressive tourist traffic. One the largest attractants to the area is the world-famous Gateway Arch, but the worst thing about the city is that it has done a tango for worst city in the United States for the past ten years. With 1900 violent crimes per 100,000 people, St. Louis is a pretty violent place to live, but it also boasts a 29.3% poverty rate.

3. Oakland, California –If you’re a hip-hop fan, you’ve likely heard the dangers associated with Oakland, California, but in case you haven’t been paying attention, it ranks number three on the list. Your chances of becoming a victim of violent crime in Oakland is 1 in 69, and a 1 in 17 chance of becoming a victim of property crime. The unemployment statistics are sitting steadily around 3.8%. The city’s per capita murder rate has surpassed that of much larger cities and the poverty rates are also out of control, making the city a hotbed for criminal activity.

While many of these cities didn’t get to this position on their own, they seem relatively unable to climb out of the hole that they’re in. Unemployment and poverty have their hand in the mix of what makes these cities so very dangerous, and until those issues are addressed, it is unlikely they will improve their station.