A Ranking of America’s Most Dangerous Cities

The rate of violent crime in Nashville-Davidson County is 1,102 per 100,000 residents, according to data compiled by the FBI. Eighty-one people were murdered in the area in 2016.

Though high crime rates typically correspond with low income levels and high rates of unemployment, Nashville in 2016 saw one the lowest rates of unemployment in the country, at 3.6 percent.

Chicago saw 765 people murdered in 2016, more than the number of homicide victims in New York City and Los Angeles combined.

The rate of violent crime was 1,106 per 100,000 residents in 2016.

The violent crime rate in Minneapolis is 1,109 per 100,000 residents, with 35 people murdered there in 2016.

Minneapolis’s reported rapes and robberies far exceed the national average. There were 109 reported rapes and 442 reported robberies for every 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 40 reported rapes and 103 reported robberies per 100,000 residents.

The violent crime rate in Buffalo is 1,110 per 100,000 in 2016. Forty-four people were murdered there that year.

Whereas the national robbery average is about 100 for every 100,000 residents, 408 residents for every 100,000 reported being robbed in Buffalo in 2016.

The rate of violent crime in Albuquerque is 1,112 per 100,000 residents. In one of the steepest increases in any city, the violent crime rate rose 15.5 percent in Albuquerque from 2015 to 2016.

The FBI noted 61 people were murdered in Albuquerque in 2016.

Like Albuquerque, the violent crime rate in Beaumont, Texas, was 1,112 per 100,000 in 2016. There, 61 people were murdered that year.

Beaumont saw a 21 percent increase in violent crime between 2015 and 2016, the highest increase of any U.S. city in that time frame. Violent crimes nationwide rose by about 4.1 percent on average.

The rate of violent crime in Springfield is 1,116 per 100,000. Six murders occurred in Illinois’ capital city in 2016. 

There were 1,301 violent crimes reported in Springfield in 2016. Of those reported crimes, 947 were aggravated assaults.

The violent crime rate in Washington, D.C., is 1,132 per 100,000 residents.

In 2016, 138 people were murdered in the nation's capital. Though violent crime fell 4.6 percent between 2015 and 2016, it remains one of the statistically most dangerous cities in the country.

Twenty-eight people were murdered in 2016 in Anchorage, where the violent crime rate was 1,144 per 100,000 residents.

Anchorage also saw a spike in property crimes in that time span, with burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson rising 24.1 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to FBI figures.

The violent crime rate in Lansing, Michigan, is 1,164 per 100,000 residents. Nine murders were reported in Lansing in 2016.

The city has the seventh-highest rater of rape cases in the country, with 123 rapes for every 100,000 residents reported in 2016.

The violent crime rate in Toledo, Ohio, is 1,192 per 100,000 residents.

The FBI noted that 37 people were murdered in the city in 2016.

The violent crime rate in San Bernardino is 1,324 per 100,000 residents.

Sixty-two people were victims of homicide there in 2016, but only 44 percent of those murders led to arrests or warrants, authorities said.

The violent crime rate in Springfield, Missouri, is 1,337 per 100,000 residents. Eight people were murdered in Springfield, the birthplace of Route 66, in 2016.

As a result of the city's crime rate, police expanded its force by 5.8 percent.

The FBI noted that in 2016, the violent crime rate in Indianapolis is 1,374 per 100,000 residents. That year, 148 people were murdered in the city.

The city’s violent crime rate is more than three times higher than the nation’s average.

In 2016, 49 people were murdered in Stockton, where the violent crime rate is 1,421 per 100,000 residents.

The city was hit hard during the housing crisis, with many homes left unoccupied. Stockton’s unemployment rate in 2016 was 8.7 percent, far higher than the national average of 4.9 percent. Cities with high unemployment rates tend to have higher rates of violent crime.

Oakland, another California city, tied Stockton with the tenth-highest violent crime rate, at 1,421 per 100,000 residents in 2016.

Forty-nine people were murdered in the city in 2016, but the city’s high rate of robberies contributed significantly to its ranking. In 2016, there were 724 robberies per 100,000 residents in Oakland.

In 2016, 42 people were victims of homicide in Little Rock, where the violent crime rate was 1,531 per 100,000 residents.

The city saw 1,000 aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents in 2016, more than four times the national average.

The violent crime rate in Milwaukee is 1,533 per 100,000 residents.

In 2016, 141 people were murdered in Milwaukee, which ranks in the top 15 cities for every violent crime category, with the exception of rape.

In 2016, 135 people were murdered in Cleveland, where the violent crime rate was 1,631 per 100,000 residents.

That year’s total number of homicides surpassed the previous year by 15, making 2016 the deadliest year in the past decade.

According to the FBI, the violent crime rate in Kansas City is 1,655 per 100,000 people.

In 2016, 129 people were murdered in the city, where violent crime had spiked 18 percent. The spike far exceeded the national average of 4.1 percent.

The violent crime rate in Rockford, Illinois, is 1,659 per 100,000 residents.

Rockford experienced its deadliest year in two decades when in 2016, 26 people were murdered.

Violent crime rose 15.4 percent between 2015 and 2016 in Baltimore, where the violent crime rate was 1,780 per 100,000 people.

In 2016, 318 people were murdered in Baltimore.

The violent crime rate was 1,820 per 100,000 residents in Memphis in 2016. That year, 196 people were murdered in the city.

The Memphis police force shrank by 5.7 percent between 2008 and 2016, but officials say they need at least 500 more officers.

In 2016, 188 people were murdered in St. Louis, where the violent crime rate was 1,913 per 100,000 residents.

St. Louis has the highest homicide rate in the nation, as there were 60 murders per 100,000 residents in 2016. That is more than 10 times the national rate.

Detroit has the highest violent crime rate in the country, with 2,047 incidents per 100,000 residents.

In 2016, 303 people were murdered in Detroit, where violent crime rose 16.3 percent that year.

Overall, there were 1.2 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. in 2016, up 4.1 percent from 2015. This marked the second consecutive year rates had risen, following nearly two decades of steady declines.