Why is the crime rate in Waco high? (Houston, Dallas: unemployed, neighborhoods)

[jocodi]

Is crime bad in Waco?
Tks for input.

[FalconheadWest]

Nothing else to do for the college kids?

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Nothing else to do for the college kids?

Its not that, but we need to keep this in perspective:

(National Average is 319)

San Angelo: 251.4
Midland: 285.5
Austin: 287.1
Brownsville/Harlingen: 293.4
McAllen/Edinburg: 297.5
Abilene: 297.5
Killeen/Temple: 334.4
Wichita Falls: 357.3
Dallas/Fort Worth: 358.4
Bryan/College Station: 359.8
Tyler: 369.1
Longview: 385.1
San Antonio: 398.1
El Paso: 406.7
Laredo: 483.6
Waco: 489.9
Amarillo: 516.6
Corpus Christi: 536.6
Beaumont: 545.9
Houston: 550.5
Lubbock: 675.6
Odessa: 679.2

So Waco is up there, but it isnt the worst.

[bluescreen73]

For it's size (<150,000) Waco's crime rate is way above average. Overall it's a poor city. The median household income is about 40% less than the state median and nearly 1/3 of the city's residents live in poverty. The city really doesn't have a lot going for it.

[texasdiver]

Also, about half of the Waco metro area falls outside the city limits. Much of the more affluent Waco suburbs where crime is much lower are actually different cities (Woodway, Hewitt, China Spring, Robinson, etc.). I suspect if one takes the metro area crime states as a whole the crime rate would be somewhat lower.

Unless the crime stats cited above are for the metro areas and not the actual cities. In any event Waco does have a number of poor and crime ridden neighborhoods. But for the most part they are restricted to the central city. The suburbs are quite ordinary and safe.

[Redlionjr]

Another thing I noticed about Waco is it had alot of housing projects for a city size which would indicate as ppl stated. Waco has a very high percentage of lower income areas.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Also, about half of the Waco metro area falls outside the city limits. Much of the more affluent Waco suburbs where crime is much lower are actually different cities (Woodway, Hewitt, China Spring, Robinson, etc.). I suspect if one takes the metro area crime states as a whole the crime rate would be somewhat lower.

Unless the crime stats cited above are for the metro areas and not the actual cities. In any event Waco does have a number of poor and crime ridden neighborhoods. But for the most part they are restricted to the central city. The suburbs are quite ordinary and safe.

Those are the metro area crime stats.

[blkgiraffe]

Lots of the crime in Waco is property theft though. Not violent crimes.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

Lots of the crime in Waco is property theft though. Not violent crimes.

Waco does have a lot of property crimes, but the violent crime rate is about 60% higher than the national average, too.

[Switchback]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Nothing else to do for the college kids?

it's not college kids..it's uneducated and unemployed black kids..and I'm directly in-the-know..just like in most cities..

And it's almost all directly related to the drug trade..