When you’re thinking about how to keep yourself safe, you’re also probably going to want to learn a bit about crime trends. Without this knowledge, it’s likely that you’ll be more worried about safety than you need to. The best way you can prepare yourself is to learn about the real crime trends in America. Here’s what you need to know about the United States’ crime trends.
All Types of Crime Are Decreasing
First and foremost, don’t lean into the idea that the United States is becoming more and more dangerous. As a matter of fact, it’s declined over the years. Here’s the overall national crime rate per 100,000 since 2010:
- 2010: 3,350.4
- 2011: 3,292.5
- 2012: 3,255.8
- 2013: 3,112.4
- 2014: 2,971.8
- 2015: 2,859.6
- 2016: 2,837
- 2017: 2,745.1
- 2018: 2,568.4
As you can see, every year, crime overall has decreased rather than increased. Even when it comes to specifically violent crimes, the trend has been going down overall. This is specifically violent crime per 100,000 since 2010:
- 2010: 404.5
- 2011: 387.1
- 2012: 387.8
- 2013: 379.1
- 2014: 375.7
- 2015: 372.6
- 2016: 386.3
- 2017: 382.9
- 2018: 368.9
Even though this is a bit more up-and-down, it’s clear that violent crime is going down. The homicide rate in 2018, for example, was half of the rate in 1991. People are becoming safer in general from both general crime and violent crime.
The Most Dangerous and Least Dangerous Places in the United States
It’s also important to learn a bit about where you might want to go to stay safe. These, for example, are the five most dangerous cities in America in terms of violent crime rate per 100,000:
- Detroit, Michigan: 2,007.8
- Memphis, Tennessee: 1,943.2
- Birmingham, Alabama: 1,911.5
- Baltimore, Maryland: 1,833.4
- St Louis, Missouri: 1,800.4
Contrast this with the safest cities in America in terms of violent crime rate per 100,000. These have a truly miniscule crime rate overall:
- Hopkinton, Massachusetts: Nearly 0
- Bridgefield, Connecticut: Nearly 0
- Madison, Connecticut: Nearly 0
- Harrison Town, New York: 3.5
- Bernards Township, New Jersey: 3.7
The Impact of Socioeconomic Status
Even just in looking at the most dangerous and least dangerous cities in the United States, you’ll likely already see that socioeconomic status has an impact. The 10 most dangerous cities in the United States have a poverty rate over 20% and high unemployment, whereas the safest cities have a median area income over $100,000 yearly. As you can see, the ability to make more money makes you more likely to be safe.
Conclusion
If you only get your information from the news, it’s easy to worry that the world, and the United States in particular, is extremely dangerous. As a matter of fact, the United States is safer today than it was 30 years ago. This is one of the most important things to remember when you’re trying to keep yourself and your family safe. Keep yourself up to date on the people around you and the people you trust – don’t just assume everyone’s out to get you.
