St. Louis is the most dangerous city in the U.S

Except it's not.  But that's what we're expected to believe from CQ's yearly most dangerous city rankings.  Here's my take on it (mostly copied and pasted from a post I made on City-Data )

UMSL Criminologists were recently honored for a thorough breakdown and criticism of these rankings

While there is no doubt that we have a high crime rate, to suggest that St. Louis is the most dangerous city, or even a top 10 most dangerous city is an absolute joke. The fact remains that violent crime is highly localized in a handful of dangerous neighborhood - just like every other city. The difference is our numbers aren't watered down like cities with a larger city limits that include some suburban areas. Of course if we had a higher population in the city proper that would also help water down crime numbers like it does in Baltimore and Washington DC.

No doubt the authors of this study realize this and mention it in their report. But the fact is that the headline will read that St. Louis is the most dangerous city in America. That's all most people will read, and it has a strong adverse effect on the entire St. Louis metro area, most of which is very safe. The study is put together to sensationalize crime, grab a headline and some publicity. And it does it at the cost of irreparable harm to the cities listed.

I don't want to discount the fact that the crime rate is unacceptably high in our city. I live here, work here, and spend the vast majority of my time and money here. While I haven't had even one remotely bad incident happen to me, I know others who have. I definitely take some precautions to ensure I do not become a victim. I think the best cure for crime is better education, stronger communities, more/better police, and more people. It is hard to get more people to move here when ridiculous studies like this come out.

Finally, as the violent crime rate is the one cited, the fact remains that even in America's "most dangerous city" you still have roughly an only 2% chance of being a victim of violent crime. I imagine that percentage is even lower if don't live in or frequent certain neighborhoods, and lower still if you don't sell drugs or join a gang. The average is roughly 0.4%. Crime is a very significant issue in St. Louis that we should continue to address...but superfluous studies like this one are not helping.