Survey: West Memphis ‘17th most dangerous’ city in U.S.

Survey: West Memphis ‘17th most dangerous’ city in U.S.

Home security company releases annual report on violent, property crime

SafeWise.com If you’re looking to put down roots far from the sounds of sirens and stories of crime, you would do well to opt for a town in regions other than the southern United States. This is according to the latest FBI report detailing the most dangerous cities in the country.

Of the fifty most crime-ridden cities on our list, all but fifteen were located east of New Mexico and south of the Mason-Dixon line. Other notable hot spots were Michigan, with six of the fifty most dangerous cities, and New Mexico, with three cities that made our list.

Opioid addiction and loose gun laws no doubt contribute to the violence in the region. However, lay the map of poverty in the US over that of crime and the two are almost a perfect match.

Take Anniston, Alabama. With 33 violent crimes and 77 property crimes per 1,000 people, this town experiences more crime per capita than anywhere else in the country. Meanwhile, nearly a third of its 22,000 residents live in poverty. From the smallest towns (Wellston, Michigan, and Bel-Ridge, Missouri) to the biggest cities on the list (Detroit and Memphis), the poverty level remains stubbornly high at a fourth to a third of the population.

This is compared to Lewisboro, New York, the town with the least amount of crime in the country. Located an hour northeast of Manhattan, its median household income is just shy of $160,000.

By Tamarra Kemsley