Last Updated on January 4, 2021
#3 .Houma-Thibodaux, LA
Half-decade violent crime rate change: +42.8 percent.
Total violent crime rate in 2011: 661 victims.
Total violent crime rate in 2016: 954 victims.
Unemployment rate: 4.6 percent.
Poverty rate: 20.9 percent.
This is really shocking because only 5 years ago, Houma-Thibodaux was the safest city in Louisiana, with 315 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens in the area, as of 2011. Unfortunately, crime and violence rates increased and by 2016, the metro area recorded 449 incidents per 100,000 people.
In fact, between 2011 and 2014, violent crime rate remained somewhat steady, only to surge sharply in 2015 and stay as such in 2016. Economic decline and a higher poverty rate are both to blame.
#2. Springfield, MO
Half-decade violent crime rate change: +41.7 percent.
Total violent crime rate in 2011: 1,867 victims.
Total violent crime rate in 2016: 2,775 victims.
Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent.
Poverty rate: 15.8 percent.
Springfield, Missouri, reports an increase of over 40 percent in the violent crime rate in the past half decade. Violent crime in the city has been surging steadily nearly every year, from 426 incidents per 100,000 people in 2011 to 604 incidents per 100,000 people five years later.
In the Springfield metro area, the majority of violent crimes were in the form of aggravated assault, as of 2016.
#1. Anchorage, AK
Half-decade violent crime rate change: +41.3
Total Violent crime rate in 2016: 3,519 victims.
Unemployment rate: 6.7 percent.
Poverty rate: 7.2 percent.
Anchorage, Alaska, has the 2nd highest violent crime rate of any metro area in the US, increasing by 41.3 percent in the previous 5 years. In 2016, there were 1,115 violent crimes per every 100,000 people!
It appears that jobless citizens are more likely to engage in severe crimes than those who have an occupation, and the relatively elevated unemployment rate in the city probably indicates that there are too few job opportunities to support the population.
