The Worst Places in the US You Wouldn’t Want to Be If You Live in or Are Going Through - These Places Are Really Dangerous and You Can Risk More

More recent figures suggest that violent crime seems to be decreasing from the recent peaks, with the local police department using new camera technologies such as ‘Flock’ cameras to bring rates down. These cameras can detect license plates of cars that are of interest to law enforcement and alert the police instantly.

I study these trends, so I can give you the real statistics. Too many writers focus on the most populated cities and fail to consider all U.S. cities.

Readers often ask me such a question- which are the most dangerous places in America?

Of course, since I am asked such a generic question, it depends on what you consider dangerous. You’re probably thinking of crime rates. But I once wrote a about why Miami, Florida, is statistically the city in which you are most likely to die an untimely death, including characteristics such as vehicular accidents, weather, and crime. East St. Louis ranked second, largely based on crime.

How to best answer the question

The following research confirms that East St. Louis is probably the most dangerous place in the U.S. for criminal activity, which I’ve often written about. It dispels the common myth that Camden, New Jersey, and neighboring Philadelphia are among the most dangerous American cities (but they certainly have their problems). New York and Los Angeles aren’t even close to the most dangerous U.S. cities based on crime rates, which debunks another widely held myth.

Murder rates

If you only want a list of the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest homicide rates (based on the most recent data), here they are. East St. Louis is double Gary’s murder rate!

1.) East St. Louis, Illinois (164.88 homicides per 100,000)

2.) Uvalde, Texas (144.58 homicides per 100,000)

3.) Jackson, Mississippi (102.16 homicides per 100,000)

4.) Gary, Indiana (83.42 homicides per 100,000)

5.) St. Louis, Missouri (66.48 homicides per 100,000)

6.) Baltimore, Maryland (58.46 homicides per 100,000)

7.) New Orleans, Louisiana (57.83 homicides per 100,000)

8.) Detroit, Michigan (48.86 homicides per 100,000)

9.) Baton Rouge, Louisiana (38.26 homicides per 100,000)

10.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (35.65 homicides per 100,000)

Of course, the tragic massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has skewed their homicide data over the past 365 days (as I write this in 2022). But if you weren’t in that building on May 24, 2022, your chances of being killed in Uvalde are practically 0%. This actually serves as a metaphor when it comes to American crime, something that is very centralized and almost never puts the average American at risk, nor visitors from other cities, states, or countries.

Violent crimes

If you consider danger to include murders and non-fatal assaults, here are the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest violent crime rates (again, mostly occurring in localized areas):

1.) Detroit, Michigan (2,475 violent crimes per 100,000)

2.) East St. Louis, Illinois (2,155 violent crimes per 100,000)

3.) St. Louis, Missouri (2,145 violent crimes per 100,000)

4.) Baltimore, Maryland (2,021 violent crimes per 100,000)

5.) Memphis, Tennessee (2,003 violent crimes per 100,000)

6.) Kansas City, Missouri (1,724 violent crimes per 100,000)

7.) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1,597 violent crimes per 100,000)

8.) Cleveland, Ohio (1,557 violent crimes per 100,000)

9.) Stockton, California (1,415 violent crimes per 100,000)

10.) Albuquerque, New Mexico (1,369 violent crimes per 100,000)

Random violence

In a typical year, about 91% of the homicides in the U.S. are committed by someone the victim knew. In general, if you don’t consort with nefarious characters, your chances of being murdered, or even attacked, are extremely low. Even when crime skyrocketed in 2020 during the pandemic, only 1 in 170,000 Americans were killed by a stranger. The vast majority of those deaths by stranger occurred in impoverished neighborhoods, while very few American citizens living outside those neighborhoods ever become a victim of a violent crime. It’s an unfortunate issue.

On that note, one of the scariest statistics is to rank the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest rate of random attacks by an unknown assailant, eliminating the majority of crimes which are committed by individuals known to the victim and focusing on our worst fears, the unexpected random assault. I’ve estimated the rate of assaults, rapes, robberies, and carjackings committed by assailants unknown to the victim. This data changes dramatically from the previous list of cities with high violent crime rates.

1.) Baltimore, Maryland (1,021.0 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

2.) Cleveland, Ohio (828.9 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

3.) Oakland, California (723..9 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

4.) St. Louis, Missouri (719.7 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

5.) Memphis, Tennessee (620.0 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

6.) Albuquerque, New Mexico (606.2 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

7.) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (563.4 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

8.) Minneapolis, Minnesota (556.8 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

9.) Chicago, Illinois (504.4 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

10.) Cincinnati, Ohio (497.5 violent crimes by strangers per 100,000)

When crime between family members and affiliates is eliminated, Baltimore and Cleveland rocket to the top, Chicago and Oakland jump into the top 10, and Detroit drops to 11th. Most surprisingly, East St. Louis and Gary plummet beyond the top 25. Although, I suspect much of that is influenced by the fact that few outsiders in their right mind would intentionally travel into East St. Louis or Gary, both notorious places for citywide danger with essentially no safe sections. So maybe it isn’t a surprise that two smaller towns where few people dare to go has crimes that predominantly involve individuals who know one another.

Poor health

All of the rankings above take into account places that are dangerous for anyone, including both residents and visitors. I consider that true danger. But if you’re curious about the cities that are most dangerous for only their residents, with visitors not necessarily incurring any sort of elevated risk, we can analyze the top 10 U.S. cities that are most dangerous for their residents based on the probability of heart disease, the number one reason for death in the U.S.

1.) Flint, Michigan

2.) Camden, New Jersey

3.) Reading, Pennsylvania

4.) Youngstown, Ohio

5.) Detroit, Michigan

6.) Cleveland, Ohio

7.) Dayton, Ohio

8.) Trenton, New Jersey

9.) Canton, Ohio

10.) Gary, Indiana

Even more shocking, these are the 10 U.S. cities with the lowest life expectancy for their residents.

1.) Beckley, West.Virginia (average resident loses 6.14 years from the American life expectancy)

2.) Gadsden, Alabama (average resident loses 6.12 years from the American life expectancy)

3.) Anniston, Alabama (average resident loses 6.11 years from the American life expectancy)

4.) Charleston, West Virginia (average resident loses 5.83 years from the American life expectancy)

5.) Pine Bluff, Arkansas (average resident loses 5.52 years from the American life expectancy)

6.) Ashland, Kentucky (average resident loses 5.49 years from the American life expectancy)

7.) Springfield, Ohio (average resident loses 5.22 years from the American life expectancy)

8.) Florence, South Carolina (average resident loses 5.03 years from the American life expectancy)

9.) East St. Louis, Illinois (average resident loses 5.02 years from the American life expectancy)

10.) Alexandria, Louisiana (average resident loses 4.54 years from the American life expectancy)

Conclusion- Typically within the U.S., the farther you can stay from the mega-cities, the safer you are. These seem to be the locations of the majority of violent crimes, property crimes, and murders.

All in all, if we can boil it all down to one point, it would be this: It’s safer away from the city.

What are your thoughts on all this? Are there other variables you believe we should have analyzed? Do you think this is a pretty fair shot given the current data at hand? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!