If you live in the United States, you might want to check out a recent report from CQ Press. The annual State Crime Rankings are now available, and the information in them is very revealing.
First, an average rate of crime is established in the areas of murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and car theft. Then each of the 50 states is compared to that average to determine the worst or more dangerous states when it comes to crime. The states with the highest combined rankings (each crime has the same weight) gets the dubious honor of being most dangerous.
Some states have really changed in their ratings and not for the better, including one that is only about 20 minutes away from my home and one that I used to call home.
According to CQ Press, here are the top ten most dangerous states:
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Louisiana
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Delaware
- Maryland
- Arizona
- Arkansas
My own state, Pennsylvania, ranked 25th out of 50, the same ranking that it held last year.
Which state is ranked as the safest state? New Hampshire, which reported only 13 murders for a population of 1.3 million people.
To learn more, you can visit WalletPop, which details the rankings all the way to the 15th most dangerous states. http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/05/most-dangerous-states-crime-rankings-for-2010/
You can also order the complete ranking report for the country or a detailed ranking report for you own state directly from the publisher.
Also, many local newspapers are reporting on the crime rates and rankings for their particular cities and states. Try googling the name of your area followed by “CQ Press’s annual State Crime Rankings” to get more information, if you state isn’t listed here.