Listen Live
CLOSE
Baltimore skyline from Historic Federal Hill Park

Source: Greg Pease / Getty

Although the world seems like an increasingly dangerous place abroad, with the rise of ISIS and widespread collapse of regimes, violent crime in the U.S. has continued its decline. While the U.S. is getting safer overall, high rates of crime continue to torment sections of the country, impacting people’s life decisions regarding housing, schooling, and travel.

  FindTheHome looked at the 2014 FBI Uniform Crime Report (latest complete data), visualizing the data and identifying the counties with the highest violent crime rates. Violent crime is defined as offenses that involve force or threat of force. This list contains the top 30 counties in the U.S. with the highest crime rates per 100,000 people.

 The violent crime rate is the total number of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies within a county per 100,000 people. The data analysts used population estimates from the 2014 American Community Survey. Only counties with a population greater than 1,000 are considered.

#30. Dillon County, SC

Population: 31,529

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 856.4

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 270

#29. Barnwell County, SC

Population: 22,287

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 866.0

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 193

#28. Anchorage Municipality, AK

Population: 298,178

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 873.6

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 2,605

#27. Madison County, TN

Population: 98,364

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 885.5

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 871

#26. Dillingham Census Area, AK

Population: 4,956

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 887.8

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 44

#25.  Valencia County, NM

Population: 76,480

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 898.3

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 687

#24.  Rapides Paris, LA

Population: 132,199

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 925.9

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 1,224

#23. Dallam County, TX

Population: 6,957

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 934.3

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 65

#22. Carter County, OK

Population: 48,288

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 938.1

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 453

#21. Mississippi County, AR

Population: 45,385

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 945.2

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 429

#20. Wayne County, MI

Population: 1,790,078

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 945.4

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 16,924

#19. Jefferson County, FL

Population: 14,335

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 962.7

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 138

#18. Iberville Parish, LA

Population: 33,375

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 970.8

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 324

#17. Milwaukee County, WI

Population: 953,401

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 997.1

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 9,506

#16. Jackson County, MO

Population: 678,167

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,004.8

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 6,814

#15. Pulaski County, AR

Population: 388,752

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,008.9

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 3,922

#14. Haywood County, TN

Population: 18,389

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,016.9

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 187

#13. Orleans Parish, LA

Population: 368,471

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,023.1

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 3,770

#12. Philadelphia County, PA

Population: 1,546,920

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,029.5

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 15,925

#11. Crittenden County, AR

Population: 50,172

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,058.4

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 531

#10. Rock County, MN

Population: 9,587

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,105.7

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 106

#9. Scott County, MO

Population: 39,137

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,119.1

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 438

#8. Davidson County, TN

Population: 648,048

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,122.9

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 7,277

#7. Potter County, TX

Population: 122,053

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,126.6

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 1,375

#6. Marion County, IN

Population: 919,336

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,178.2

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 10,832

#5. Washington County, D.C.

Population: 633,736

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,232.4

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 7,810

 Note: There is only one county in the District of Columbia.

#4. Shelby County, TN

Population: 936,130

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,314.2

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 12,303

#3. Baltimore City, MD

Population: 622,271

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,341.2

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 8,346

#2. Alexander County, IL

Population: 7,821

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,355.3

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 106

#1. St. Louis City, MO

Population: 318,727

Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,677.9

Number of Violent Crimes Reported: 5,348

source:  WTOP.com