Tukwila named most dangerous city in America, SafeWise study

Tukwila has been named the most dangerous city in America, according to home security consultant website SafeWise.

The report by SafeWise said they analyzed FBI crime report statistics from 2014 for all cities with a population of more than 10,000, and then tallied the number of violent crimes, which they defined as murder, robbery, aggravated assault, and forcible rape, and property crimes, such as burglary, arson, motor vehicle theft, and larceny-theft.

They took the data and compiled a list of the chance of each crime happening out of 1,000 people. Tukwila scored relatively low compared to the other top cities on the list in violent crimes at 8.18 per 1,000 — which is actually a drop from 8.29 last year, but topped the list at property crimes at 165.75 per 1,000 (also a drop from last year’s 167.42). Spokane also made this dubious list at No. 22, climbing four spots from No. 26 in 2015.

The report gave a caveat that any city’s law enforcement agency that didn’t report complete crime data to the FBI was disqualified from their list, just in case you were wondering why some other cities with high-profile crime problems, such as Detroit, Oakland and Memphis, might not be on the list, as they are on other lists declaring high-crime cities. The FBI also has a warning posted on their site cautioning against using raw crime data to rank cities.

A Tukwila city spokesperson agreed.

“This is based on comparing crime statistics to solely the number of people who are actual residents to the City – in our case, that is 19,000. However, we have anywhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people in Tukwila every day due to the presence of Westfield Southcenter, the largest mall in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the other retail and employment areas in the City,” said Rachel Bianchi. “Making per capita comparisons such as this just doesn’t make sense when you look at the unique nature of our city. For instance, if you look at the amount of sales receipts in Tukwila (in excess of $2 billion in 2015) on a per capita basis you’d think Tukwila residents do an amazing amount of shopping – to the tune of over $105,000 per person!”

Here are the 30 most dangerous cities in America:

1. Tukwila, Washington ↑

Previous rank: 2

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 8.18
Property Crimes per 1,000: 165.75

2. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina ↓

Previous rank: 1

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 14.28
Property Crimes per 1,000: 159.54

3. Emeryville, California 

Previous rank: 3

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 10.66
Property Crimes per 1,000: 146.10

4. Lumberton, North Carolina

Previous rank: 4

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 16.59
Property Crimes per 1,000: 137.72

5. College Park, Georgia ↑

Previous rank: 7

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 21.52
Property Crimes per 1,000: 111.23

6. Bellmead, Texas

Previous rank: Not ranked

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 16.97
Property Crimes per 1,000: 111.34

7. Gallup, New Mexico ↑

Previous rank: 11

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 21.47
Property Crimes per 1,000: 105.77

8. Selma, Alabama ↑

Previous rank: 35

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 13.70
Property Crimes per 1,000: 105.05

9. East Point, Georgia ↑

Previous rank: 12

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 12.91
Property Crimes per 1,000: 104.54

10. Branson, Missouri ↓

Previous rank: 8

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 6.63
Property Crimes per 1,000: 107.00

11. Humble, Texas ↑

Previous rank: 18

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 6.80
Property Crimes per 1,000: 104.76

12. Henderson, North Carolina ↑

Previous rank: 20

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 14.94
Property Crimes per 1,000: 93.53

13. Douglas, Georgia ↑

Previous rank: 66

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 9.06
Property Crimes per 1,000: 92.75

14. Blytheville, Arkansas ↑

Previous rank: 27

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 17.32
Property Crimes per 1,000: 83.55

15. Anniston, Alabama ↑

Previous rank: 19

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 23.75
Property Crimes per 1,000: 75.82

16. Kennett, Missouri 

Previous rank: Not ranked

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 8.80
Property Crimes per 1,000: 88.53

17. Union City, Georgia ↑

Previous rank: 30

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 12.71
Property Crimes per 1,000: 84.24

18. Muskegon Heights, Michigan ↑

Previous rank: 59

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 17.92
Property Crimes per 1,000: 75.19

19. Salt Lake City, Utah ↑

Previous rank: 92

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 7.52
Property Crimes per 1,000: 84.36

20. Americus, Georgia ↑

Previous rank: 42

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 11.73
Property Crimes per 1,000: 79.94

21. Poplar Bluff, Missouri ↑

Previous rank: 64

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 6.63
Property Crimes per 1,000: 84.52

22. Spokane, Washington ↑

Previous rank: 26

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 5.48
Property Crimes per 1,000: 85.59

23. Brunswick, Georgia ↑

Previous rank: 80

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 14.14
Property Crimes per 1,000: 75.54

24. Anderson, South Carolina ↑

Previous rank: 25

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 9.69
Property Crimes per 1,000: 79.51

25. Springfield, Missouri ↓

Previous rank: 23

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 11.86
Property Crimes per 1,000: 76.46

26. Elkton, Maryland ↑

Previous rank: 89

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 14.52
Property Crimes per 1,000: 73.56

27. Espanola, New Mexico

Previous rank: Not ranked

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 26.05
Property Crimes per 1,000: 61.45

28. Ardmore, Oklahoma ↑

Previous rank: 65

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 16.69
Property Crimes per 1,000: 70.13

29. Jasper, Alabama ↑

Previous rank: 97

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 8.11
Property Crimes per 1,000: 78.69

30. Gadsden, Alabama ↑

Previous rank: 40

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 9.82
Property Crimes per 1,000: 76.97

Agencies/Canadajournal