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Chicago's violent crime numbers show up as N/A at the FBI because the Chicago police department defines rape differently than basically the rest of the US. I think it has to do with them recognizing the fact that a man can rape another man and a woman can rape another woman...so the FBI can't report it since it doesn't line up with pretty much anybody else.
Yeah, I think it's actually the state of Illinois as a whole that has a more broad definition of rape than the FBI and other states, so the FBI stats for the country just throws everything out. There are plenty of studies though where they just input Illinois/Chicago's numbers (I mean they're all right there) and the metro usually falls in the lower half. There are pockets of violence on the south/west sides of the city and a few southern suburbs, but overall a vast majority of the suburbs where 70% of the people live are extremely safe. I remember DuPage County going 13 months without a single murder for its almost one million people.
You might be sorry you noticed that because the one I left off was Nashville. Its violent crime rate is way up there at 650.8. I fix it in a reply to my initial post.
Oh, I know it was Nashville. That's why I made the post. I knew it wasn't going to be a low number. I'm surprised it's that high, considering the number of other metro lists I've seen, where we tend to score more towards the higher end of the middle.
Most of what boosts that number is aggravated assault, which for some reason is very high here. The murder rate is average.
Oh, I know it was Nashville. That's why I made the post. I knew it wasn't going to be a low number. I'm surprised it's that high, considering the number of other metro lists I've seen, where we tend to score more towards the higher end of the middle.
Most of what boosts that number is aggravated assault, which for some reason is very high here. The murder rate is average.
Nashville was in my hand-scratched notes where I listed all the top 50 metros and then cross referenced the crime data from the link. After each city, I scratched it out. I guess that by the time I was getting to the end, the entire sheet of paper was a big mess and I didn't see that Nashville wasn't yet scratched out.
I had originally wondered how geography might influence this data. But, I am not sure now. Let me give you two comparative metros as examples. Interestingly, one of them is Nashville.
In the case of Richmond, I initially wondered if their overall crime stats were low because their MSA includes so much rural geography. After all, their MSA land area is really quite huge for 1.2 million+ people. But, that theory/idea seems to be flushed down the toilet when compared to Nashville because it too has a huge land area within its MSA and the overall crime rate is second highest.
Now I am thinking that there is a strong correlation between education and lower crime rates. Many of the metros with lower rates are among the most educated metros in the nation. While there are outliers to this theory on this list, it does seem to jump off the page to me when I see rates listed from highest to lowest.
Nashville was in my hand-scratched notes where I listed all the top 50 metros and then cross referenced the crime data from the link. After each city, I scratched it out. I guess that by the time I was getting to the end, the entire sheet of paper was a big mess and I didn't see that Nashville wasn't yet scratched out.
I had originally wondered how geography might influence this data. But, I am not sure now. Let me give you two comparative metros as examples. Interestingly, one of them is Nashville.
In the case of Richmond, I initially wondered if their overall crime stats were low because their MSA includes so much rural geography. After all, their MSA land area is really quite huge for 1.2 million+ people. But, that theory/idea seems to be flushed down the toilet when compared to Nashville because it too has a huge land area within its MSA and the overall crime rate is second highest.
Now I am thinking that there is a strong correlation between education and lower crime rates. Many of the metros with lower rates are among the most educated metros in the nation. While there are outliers to this theory on this list, it does seem to jump off the page to me when I see rates listed from highest to lowest.
The suburban areas and rural areas of Nashville are pretty safe. Some are very, very safe. I think the difference between Richmond and Nashville would be Richmond's share of the metro population compared to Nashville. Richmond has 205,000 people in a metro of 1,230,000 (~17%), whereas Nashville has ~625,000 in a metro of 1,725,000 (~36%). There are a lot of other factors that go into play here (city-county government), so without getting too much in depth...the areas are just different. Nashville as a city arguably does benefit from having a lot of non-urban population in the city limits. I will concede that.
I have no idea why the aggravated assault rate is so high. The good news is the murder rate is falling. Also, I don't think Nashville fits the lower-educated/higher crime theory.
Here are the 2011 property crime rates for the largest metro areas, sorted from lowest to highest:
1744.1 New York
1924.0 Pittsburgh
2078.8 San Diego
2109.0 Boston
2146.0 San Jose
2232.7 Los Angeles
2386.0 Washington, DC
2443.4 Hartford
2495.6 Richmond
2585.7 Rochester
2595.3 Raleigh
2727.8 Las Vegas
2733.7 Denver
2747.3 Philadelphia
2791.5 Chicago
2818.5 Riverside
2825.5 Sacramento
2844.6 Minneapolis/St. Paul
2878.5 Detroit
2945.5 Buffalo
2962.8 Cleveland
3042.5 Baltimore
3080.1 San Francisco
3101.5 Tampa
3128.9 St. Louis
3137.6 Portland
3279.5 Milwaukee
3310.9 Virginia Beach
3318.8 Nashville
3392.8 New Orleans
3407.4 Kansas City
3435.5 Charlotte
3448.3 Austin
3498.5 Dallas/Ft. Worth
3498.9 Cincinnati
3552.0 Atlanta
3576.9 Houston
3656.5 Phoenix
3662.7 Orlando
3682.9 Jacksonville
3767.9 Indianapolis
3776.4 Louisville
3782.3 Seattle
4093.7 Birmingham
4126.6 Salt Lake City
4178.7 Columbus
4193.3 Miami
4271.9 Oklahoma City
4562.8 Memphis
4667.6 San Antonio
Here are the 2011 property crime rates for the largest metro areas, sorted from lowest to highest:
1744.1 New York
1924.0 Pittsburgh
2078.8 San Diego
2109.0 Boston
2146.0 San Jose
2232.7 Los Angeles
2386.0 Washington, DC
2443.4 Hartford
2495.6 Richmond
2585.7 Rochester
2595.3 Raleigh
2727.8 Las Vegas
2733.7 Denver
2747.3 Philadelphia
2791.5 Chicago
2818.5 Riverside
2825.5 Sacramento
2844.6 Minneapolis/St. Paul
2878.5 Detroit
2945.5 Buffalo
2962.8 Cleveland
3042.5 Baltimore
3080.1 San Francisco
3101.5 Tampa
3128.9 St. Louis
3137.6 Portland
3279.5 Milwaukee
3310.9 Virginia Beach
3318.8 Nashville
3392.8 New Orleans
3407.4 Kansas City
3435.5 Charlotte
3448.3 Austin
3498.5 Dallas/Ft. Worth
3498.9 Cincinnati
3552.0 Atlanta
3576.9 Houston
3656.5 Phoenix
3662.7 Orlando
3682.9 Jacksonville
3767.9 Indianapolis
3776.4 Louisville
3782.3 Seattle
4093.7 Birmingham
4126.6 Salt Lake City
4178.7 Columbus
4193.3 Miami
4271.9 Oklahoma City
4562.8 Memphis
4667.6 San Antonio
One of my cities (Raleigh) looks good on both lists while the other (Miami) looks bad on both. No surprise to me.
I prefer to blame the actual people causing the crimes
It goes without saying. I am sure Houston's finest are doing all that they can. Unfortunately, the city often seems to prioritize their efforts on traffic violations (which bring in revenue) to a greater degree than on resolving violent crimes, burglaries, and other major felonies. You can call me bitter but the statistics above indicate that the city should be doing better than this.
Um,......anybody bored and want to do a list by murder rate??? I'd like to see that. I know JAX is #1 in FL every year. I'm curious how we stack up nationwide. Too bad they don't rank them instead of listing alphabetically.
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Property Crime Rates per 100,000 population
I'd like to see that. I know JAX is #1 in FL every year. I'm curious how we stack up nationwide. Too bad they don't rank them instead of listing alphabetically. 
