Top 100 Most Dangerous & Safest US Cities for 2017, Study Reports

NeighborhoodScout, the nationwide neighborhood search engine and provider of location-based analytics for real estate investors, mortgage professionals and homebuyers, has just released its Top 100 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities and Top 100 Safest U.S. Cities lists for 2017, based on annual crime rates by city.

“The same trend continues to play out across the country, one that highlights a contrast between coveted bedroom communities and struggling inner and industrial-satellite cities,” explains Dr. Andrew Schiller, CEO and founder of Location, Inc. and NeighborhoodScout.

“These safe commuter towns, which exist between major cities like Boston, Chicago, and Dallas-Fort Worth and smaller, high-crime satellite cities, have residents who can afford access to opportunity,” says Dr. Schiller.

“An easy commute to high paying jobs in the city, combined with decent schools and quality of life in the suburbs, increases home values and lowers crime.”

The Most Dangerous Cities list comprises violent crimes, while the Safest Cities list comprises both violent and property crimes.

The reason for this distinction: The general public tends to equate a “dangerous” city with “violent” crime (armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape, homicide), while a “safe” city means safety from both property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) as well as violence.

Both lists compare the safety of cities with 25,000 or more people nationwide, based on the number of crimes reported and the population of each city. This calculation normalizes the data by providing a rate for individual types of crime per 1,000 residents, offering an accurate comparison of cities of different sizes.

For example, in the past year, Newburgh, NY saw 424 violent crimes. While these numbers are less than Tallahassee, FL (2,063), when factoring in population size, Newburgh (population: 28,290) is ahead of Tallahassee (population: 189,907) on the most dangerous U.S. cities list (#22 vs. #60).

NeighborhoodScout’s analysis of annual crime rates by city is the most comprehensive available because it factors in all reported crimes from all 18,000 local law enforcement agencies across the country.

This is important because many cities are served by more than one agency (municipal police, county sheriff, transit police, etc.).

For more information, visit the Top 100 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities and the Top 100 Safest U.S. Cities.

(Learn More, courtesy of NeighborhoodScout and YouTube)

Location, Inc. is a geographic research and data mining company born out of university research and a leading provider of location-based data and tools used by corporations for risk analysis.

Location, Inc. specializes in location analysis, quantifying and mapping of crime and security risks, structure fire risk, demographic and school data information products, and location-based decision-making tools for businesses and consumers.

More than 65 million people and businesses have used Location, Inc.’s data and services, including NeighborhoodScout® and SecurityGauge®, since the Company’s 2000 inception.