State one of most dangerous in U.S.
NICOLE NORRIS/THE GREENVILLE STANDARD
According to 24/7 Wall St., Alabama has been ranked in the top ten of the most dangerous States in America.
For every 100,000 people in Alabama, 472 violent crimes were reported last year, the 10th highest rate in the nation. By contrast, 383 violent crimes were reported per 100,000 people nationwide. The incidence of violent crime is often closely tied to economic conditions. While unemployed individuals are not necessarily more prone to violence than employed individuals, economically depressed communities frequently report higher crime rates. Alabama’s annual unemployment rate of 6.1% is eighth highest of all states.
As is generally the case in the nation’s most dangerous states, high levels of violence in one or two urban centers account for much of Alabama’s crime problem. In Birmingham, 1,746 violent incidents were reported per 100,000 residents last year, the third highest of U.S. cities tracked by the FBI.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed violent crime rates in each state from data collected through the FBI’s 2015 Uniform Crime Report Program. Violent crime includes all offenses involving force or threat of force and is broken into four categories: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. These crimes are more common in some states than in others.
To identify the 10 most dangerous states, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the number of violent crimes reported per 100,000 people in each state from the FBI’s 2015 Uniform Crime Report. The total number and rates of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, which are included in the violent crime rate, as well as burglaries, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson, all classified as property crime. also came from the FBI’s report. 24/7 Wall St. considered these data for each year from 2011 through 2015. Annual unemployment rates for 2015 came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Median household income, poverty rates, the percentage of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, population and the percentage of adults with at least a high school diploma came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey.
The good news is Greenville has been ranked 49th in the Safest Places in Alabama.
