Meet America’s 10 Most Dangerous Cities

Two separate analyses of FBI crime data reveal the 15 American cities that have the most violent crime and spend the most on crime-related costs.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock

Democratic mayors are in charge of almost all of the United States’ 10 most dangerous cities, based on analyses of the latest available national data on violent crimes and the cost of crime.

NeighborhoodScout and MoneyGeek used different methodologies to gauge the most violent and costliest crime cities, although five of the cities ended up on both lists.

NeighborhoodScout’s report is based on the number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents in cities with 25,000 or more people. The data are based on the number of violent crimes reported to the FBI in each city, projections of violent crime rates based on prior years’ data, and the population of each city, according to the company.

MoneyGeek analyzed the most recent crime statistics from the FBI to estimate the societal cost of crime per resident in 263 cities that have populations greater than 100,000.

Demonstrators climb on a destroyed Baltimore police car on a street during violent protests in Baltimore on April 27, 2015. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

10 Most Dangerous Cities

NeighborhoodScout says it matches crime incident data from “all 18,000+ local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to the specific local communities the agency covers, and hence in which community the crimes have occurred.”

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The organization considers homicide, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault as violent crimes.

Its most dangerous city is Bessemer, Alabama, with a violent crime rate of 33.1 crimes per 1,000 residents. Bessemer is a suburb of Birmingham, which comes up sixth on this list and second on MoneyGeek’s “cost of crime” top 10 list.

NeighborhoodScout lists Monroe, Louisiana, as its second most dangerous city, with a rate of 26.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Monroe sits halfway between Shreveport, Louisiana, and Jackson, Mississippi.

In third place is Saginaw, Michigan, with a violent crime rate of 25.1 per 1,000 residents. Saginaw is about 100 miles northwest of Detroit.

Rounding out the top 10 are Memphis, Tennessee; Detroit; Birmingham, Alabama; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Alexandria, Louisiana; and Cleveland.

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Several mayoral races in the above cities are run as nonpartisan elections, which means all candidates are in one pool for voters.

However, all but one of the cities are run by mayors who are either Democrats or are affiliated with the Democratic Party. The exception is Monroe, Louisiana, whose mayor, Friday Ellis, is a Republican-turned-independent.

Cost of Crime Top 10

MoneyGeek’s data measure the cost of crime per capita in cities of 100,000 or more. It doesn’t drill down to cities as small as NeighborhoodScout (25,000) but ends up with a very similar list and five exact matches.

“Crime and safety are intertwined with prosperity, income, and economic opportunity. Crime is costly to individual victims, perpetrators, communities, and society at large,” the finance company posted on its website.

Overall, MoneyGeek calculated the cost of crime in 2021 was $1,836 per capita in U.S. cities, up 6 percent, or $100 per capita, since 2020.

The company says it analyzed crime data, including violent crimes such as murder, rape, and aggravated assault and property crimes such as home burglary and motor vehicle theft. MoneyGeek omitted any cities that didn’t report murder and rape.

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It calculated the cost of crime based on the “direct economic costs of crime to individuals and society.”

This includes the medical and mental health care costs for victims and the damage to and loss of property, and the costs for police and corrections, MoneyGeek stated in its report.

“Aside from the imminent danger of crime, people living in higher crime areas see depressed home values and pay higher prices for crucial needs, including home insurance, renters insurance, and auto insurance,” the report states.

Ranking No. 1 on MoneyGeek’s list is St. Louis, which has an estimated crime cost per capita of $8,457, according to the finance company. Democrat Tishaura Jones was sworn in as the 47th mayor and the first black female mayor in the city’s history on April 20, 2021. Her predecessor was also a Democrat.

(Left) Police investigate the scene of a carjacking case which was reportedly connected to a series of shootings, in Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Right) Crime scene tape surrounds the area where 10 people were shot at Al's Place Barber Shop in Detroit on Nov. 7, 2013. Brad Vest/Getty Images, Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Ranked second is Birmingham, with an estimated crime cost per capita of $7,900. It’s also run by a Democrat, Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, who began his second term as Birmingham’s 30th mayor on Nov. 23, 2021.

Baltimore is the third costliest U.S. city in terms of crime, according to MoneyGeek, with an estimated crime cost per capita of $7,230.

The next three cities on the list are Memphis, Detroit, and Cleveland. Three cities from Louisiana make up the 7th, 8th, and 9th spots—New Orleans, Shreveport, then Baton Rouge.

And rounding out the top 10 is Little Rock.

All of the aforementioned cities have Democratic mayors, except Shreveport, which elected Mayor Tom Arceneaux, a Republican who took office on Dec. 31, 2022, after the time period used by MoneyGeek for its report. The previous mayors, since 2006, were Democrats.

At the other end of the scale are Naperville, Illinois, and Sunnyvale, California, which are noted as the least costly cities in terms of crime by MoneyGeek, with both at $156 per capita.

People loot a store in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minn., in New York on June 1, 2020. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

Retail Stores Exit

In addition to topping the list of dangerous cities, Democratic-run metropolitan areas are losing big businesses and feeling the associated financial hit.

Target is among several retailers, including Nordstrom, Walmart, and Walgreens, that are closing stores in major cities across the United States because of thefts and organized retail crime.

“We have made the difficult decision to close nine Target stores across four states, effective Oct. 21,” Target said in a statement.

The stores include one in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, two in Seattle, three in Portland, Oregon, and three in the San Francisco–Oakland area.

Groceries are scattered outside a shuttered Target store in the aftermath of a looting in response to George Floyd's death, in Philadelphia on June 3, 2020. Mark Makela/Getty Images

“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said.

In San Francisco, one Walgreens has resorted to putting chains on its freezers to deter theft. In May, Nordstrom closed its 35-year-old flagship store in downtown San Francisco because of concerns about “unsafe conditions.”

In California, where Target is closing three stores, a 2014 law, known as Prop. 47, raised the minimum threshold for felony theft to $950 from $400, which critics point to as the main cause of a rise in petty theft in the state.

Target has encouraged the creation of organized retail crime task forces at the state and local levels and supported the recent passage of the INFORM Consumers Act, which gives marketplaces a larger role in combating the second-hand sale of stolen goods.

The big-box retailer has called on Congress to pass legislation to combat retail theft, such as the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which creates a task force of federal agencies to crack down on organized retail crime.

Protesters raise their hands and shout slogans in response to George Floyd's death in Minneapolis on June 2, 2020. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

The bipartisan legislation, introduced at the beginning of 2023 by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), targets the rise in flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft schemes sweeping the nation.

“These organized theft rings have been developing new tactics to pilfer goods, causing economic harm to American businesses and putting consumers at risk while funding transnational criminal organizations throughout the world,” Mr. Grassley said in a statement at the time.

Organized retail crime “costs retailers $720,000 for every $1 billion in sales—up 50 percent since 2015,” Mr. Grassley and Ms. Masto said.

“Criminal organizations have increasingly turned to retail crime to generate illicit profits, using internet-based tools to organize flash mobs, sell stolen goods, and move money,” the senators stated.

A 2022 survey by the National Retail Federation found that retailers reported a significant increase in violence and aggression associated with organized retail crime over the previous year. Survey respondents reported that organized retail crime incidents had increased by 26 percent on average over the past year.

The Grassley–Masto bill would establish a center to combat organized retail crime within Homeland Security Investigations that combines expertise from state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as retail industry representatives. It also creates new tools to assist in the federal investigation and prosecution of organized retail crime and help recover lost goods and proceeds, according to a statement by Sens. Grassley and Masto.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act is supported by the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association of the NYPD, and the Protect America’s Small Sellers Coalition.