Finally there's a national statistic that shows parts of California in a positive light - and two of my cities are at the top of the heap. Business Insider.com recently released their analysis of FBI statistics for 2010 showing the 13 safest cities in America along with the 25 most dangerous. California scored 6 out of the 13 safest and just 3 of the 25 most dangerous.
According to FBI stats, violent crime, including murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, is down across the country by 5.5%. That's pretty good considering the economic situation. You might imagine just the opposite would be happening but so far so good.
For at least the 2nd year in a row Irvine California ranks #1 in safety with almost 10 times less than the national average crime rate - just 55 crimes per 100,000 people with Zero murders and 30 robberies. Contrast this with the most dangerous city in the country, Flint MI, with 2,208 violent crimes per 100,000 including 49 murders and 84 forcible rapes.
Southwest County again scored well. For the past couple years Murrieta has ranked #2 behind Irvine, with Temecula coming in at 4 or 5. This year Temecula leapfrogged to #2 and Murrieta came in 4th. Temecula had just 72 violent crimes per 100,000 with 3 rapes while Murrieta had 95 violent crimes and 1 murder. Considering that each city has just over 100,000 population, that means there really were only 72 violent crimes in Temecula last year. Applying the same count for #2 Detroit with 1,887 violent crimes per 100,000 and a population of 800,000 gives you a crime spree of nearly 19,000 violent crimes and 340 murders last year. Yowza!
The 13 safest:
Irvine CA
Temecula CA
Cary NC
Murrieta CA
Gilbert AZ
Red Rock TX
Frisco TX
Simi Valley CA
Bellevue WA
Orange CA
Amherst Town NY
Thousand Oaks CA
Surprise AZ
The 25 most dangerous:
Flint MI
Detroit MI
St. Louis MO
New Haven CT
Memphis TN
Oakland CA
Little Rock AK
Baltimore MD
Rockfort IL
Stockton CA
Buffalo NY
Springfield MA
Cleveland OH
Hartford CN
Washington DC
Springfield IL
Philadelphia PA
Lowell MA
Richmond CA
Saint Petersburg FL
Nashville TN
Kansas City MO
Miami FL
Lansing MI
Elizabeth NJ
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