To me the measure of a city's safety is best defined by it's assault and robbery rate, not the murder rate. A city can have a high murder rate but not really be dangerous, for instance I've never been in fear for my life in New Orleans (pre katrina visits, not really fearful even now) yet in Cleveland I always had the feeling that something was going to happen like you have to constantly look behind you, even though New Orleans murder rate was much higher I didn't have that same sense that there was something bad going to happen in the air. Making this list is the first time I saw the difference between Cleveland and New Orleans. I knew I wasn't imagining things. It's a vibe you can feel. For the record I lived near Cleveland for 9 years and NOLA for 10. Another example would be a city of 500, for years nothing ever happens there, then one day a person loses it and kills their entire family of 5, instantly that kicks that quiet town's murder rate to 1,000 per 100,000. Worst than many cities of the world, but would you still think of that town as dangerous? You are much more likely to be attacked or robbed than killed.

I did almost every state's largest city, other large cities within the states and some smaller ones. Of course not every large city. Population is irrelevent, Fargo has 3 times the population of East St Louis, but couldn't be any more opposite of each other. Couldn't get info for Charlotte, Las Vegas,Honolulu

This is per 100,000 the lower the number the better.

From the year 2005
Fargo-----------------66
Cheyenne-------------145
Billings----------------164
Manchester-----------211
Sioux Falls------------219
Virginia Beach---------234
Fort Wayne-----------279
Boise-----------------323
San Jose/Beverly Hills-351
Portland,ME----------352
Hampton-------------369
El Paso---------------385
Green Bay------------427
Austin----------------443
Chesapeake----------480
San Diego------------492
Akron----------------500
Omaha---------------506
Spokane-------------523
Raleigh---------------569
Des Moines-----------573
Jackson--------------578
San Antonio----------583
Hialeah---------------591
Gary-----------------598
Phoenix---------------600
Providence------------611
New York City---------641
Corpus Christ----------643
Anchorage------------651
Portland--------------659
Durham---------------660
Salt Lake City---------674
Long Beach-----------686
Seattle---------------688
Norfolk---------------729
Newport News--------732
Denver---------------736
Columbus-------------752
San Francisco---------773
Winston-Salem--------776
Oklahoma City---------777
Los Angeles-----------785
Greensboro------------787
St. Paul---------------799
Fresno----------------802
Jacksonville-----------808
Portsmouth-----------837
Dayton---------------857
Albuquerque----------877
New Orleans----------882
Tucson---------------895
Indianapolis-----------932
Newark---------------941
Tacoma--------------960
Milwaukee------------990
Youngstown----------994
Pittsburgh----------1,012
Shreveport---------1,035
Charleston,WV------1,040
Charleston,SC------1,059
Cincinnati----------1,078
Hartford-----------1,102
Sacramento--------1,105
Houston-----------1,130
Richmond----------1,146
Baton Rouge-------1,156
Toledo-------------1,168
Chicago-----------1,192
Dallas-------------1,208
Tulsa-------------1,212
Boston------------1,277
Cleveland---------1,289
Buffalo------------1,322
Washington-------1,336
Oakland-----------1,339
Birmingham--------1,341
Minneapolis--------1,347
Tampa-------------1,373
Kansas City--------1,374
Philadelphia---------1,381
Wilmington---------1,388
Atlanta------------1,466
St. Petersburg------1,528
Miami--------------1,557
Orlando------------1,581
Little Rock---------1,699
Compton-----------1,700
Baltimore-----------1,701
Memphis-----------1,799
Camden------------2,000
Detroit-------------2,289
St. Louis-----------2,299
East St. Louis------7,868

I would be interested in seeing some international city rankings.

Honolulu-254
Charlotte - 1020
Las Vegas - 714 (but the site listed its population as being up to 1.1 Million now???)

These are from 2003 FBI stats, so could be a little out of date? go to cityrating.com and click on crime rates.

Interesting list! NYC does really well :)

For Zurich: 2006 - 55'800 assaults and robberies (highest in 1990 with over 60'000). The city has 370'000 pop, so it's 1581

Yes - Zurich would be in the US top 10!!
And rape is not included. A huge problem here is burglary and vehicle theft. Don't know anyone here that it didn't at least happen once :( And vandalism is a big problem as well

On the other hand murder rate is relatively low (around 30 per year in the whole city, makes a rate of 8.1/100'000)

but the difference between St. Louis and East St.Louis is incredible! :eek2:

I dont know if we measure any different than you but it goes like this for the 3 big cities in sweden:

Per 100.000..

Stockholm 2005/2006:
Assault - 1 300/1 345
Robbery - 269/235

Total = 1569/1580

add rapes: 60/65


Göteborg (Gothenburg) 2005/2006:
Assault - 922/945
Robbery - 264/247

Total = 1186/1192

rapes: 48/50


Malmö (Malmo) 2005/2006:
Assault - 1092/1160
Robbery - 360/314

Total= 1452/1474

rapes: 53/44

On the other hand murder rate is relatively low (around 30 per year in the whole city, makes a rate of 8.1/100'000)

:O That sounds very much for a european city.. are you sure about this?

^Yes, I have the data from the official statistical office of the Zurich police ;)

Was also surprised. But you should know that it varies extremly. Some years are only 16 murders, on an other 50. And think that it's not per 1000, but per 100'000 ;)

London - 7,517,000


(All figures are for Spring 2006 - Spring 2007)

Violent Crime: 237,431

Cases of Gun Enabled Crime (ie crime that involves a gun): 3,375

Cases of Knife Enabled Crime (ie crime that involves a knife): 12,124

but the difference between St. Louis and East St.Louis is incredible! :eek2:

The thing that really kicked E. St Louis over the top was the assault rate. For a city of about 30,000 there were over 2,000 assaults. Which translated in to an assault rate of 6000+ per 100,000

I did as many large cities as I could, can anyone recommend some smaller US cities that are known around your area for a high crime rate?

This can't be compared internationaly. While murders are pretty straightforward, assault and robbery numbers are categorised and reported differently in each country.

So Zurich would probably not make the US top 10...

On the other hand murder rate is relatively low (around 30 per year in the whole city, makes a rate of 8.1/100'000):shocked:

That is higher than St Paul's. I'm surprised a European city would have a higher murder rate than an American city of the same size.

As for the list it should be remembered that different states define assult differently, and in some places it is more likely to be reported to the police than others.

This can't be compared internationaly. While murders are pretty straightforward, assault and robbery numbers are categorised and reported differently in each country.

So Zurich would probably not make the US top 10...
I agree with you - here every robbery is reported because of the insurance. People in some american Ghetto wouldn't go to the police so quickly probably. And there are neighbourhoods that even the police doesn't enter. So what REALLY happens there on one knows.

And for the murder rate: no one is just shot on the streets in Zurich (except you are a clubber, then you live a bit dangerous). It's mostly family dramas. Unfortunatly a very sad development here: father has problems, kills the whole family and then himself :( That makes then already 4-5 people.

London - 7,517,000


(All figures are for Spring 2006 - Spring 2007)

Violent Crime: 237,431

Cases of Gun Enabled Crime (ie crime that involves a gun): 3,375

Cases of Knife Enabled Crime (ie crime that involves a knife): 12,124

Wow, London's more violent than what I thought... I'll be moving there, so I gotta watch out J/K :D

London got very bad recently :( All the camera supervisions didn't help at all...

I agree with you - here every robbery is reported because of the insurance. People in some american Ghetto wouldn't go to the police so quickly probably. And there are neighbourhoods that even the police doesn't enter. So what REALLY happens there on one knows.

And for the murder rate: no one is just shot on the streets in Zurich (except you are a clubber, then you live a bit dangerous). It's mostly family dramas. Unfortunatly a very sad development here: father has problems, kills the whole family and then himself :( That makes then already 4-5 people.
Because god forbid an American city might be considered "safer" than a European city :)
We have insurance purposes, too.

I'm hoping someone can explain this statistic (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rob_percap-crime-robberies-per-capita).

It seems strange that Spain would have more robberies than any other country in the world, twice as many as the next highest, Chile, and twelve times as many as the US.

It's a little troubling since I hope to one day live in Spain.

Violent crime in SF, 2005:

Total Violent Crimes - 5985 - 798.9/100,000
Murders - 96 - 12.8/100,000
Rapes - 172 - 23/100,000
Robberies - 3078 - 410.9/100,000
Aggravated Assaults -2639 - 352.3/100,000


One thing though, in San Francisco as well as elsewhere in the US, is that alot of times, instead of "assualting" or fighting, people will just kill...or try to kill each other. Look at someone wrong? Say the wrong thing? Wear the wrong colors? Don't be surprised if you get severely beat, or shot in the face. Or back. As you run away. Seriously, people are quick to go to extreme violence.

Also, robberies are often violent. Its not uncommon for people to be stabbed or shot AFTER they give up their belongings.

Also, slightly off topic, but an interesting little crime fact that I just came across:

there were 15,776 car break-ins in San Francisco in 2006, or roughly 43 break-ins per day. The number is up 20% from 2005, and the real number of break-ins could be 2 to 3 times as high, because many victims don't report it, especially after their car has been robbed more than once, and the victim learns their insurance won't cover it. And what does the police department commit to combat this? 5 inspectors. 5 inspectors, and nearly 16,000 reported car break-ins a year. There were 513 arrests, of which 315 people were charged, 219 were convicted, 14 had their cases dismissed, and 82 are still waiting for their day in court.