When you think about the most dangerous city in the United States, usually places like Detroit or Chicago pop in to your mind.  While the longstanding urban decay, unemployment, and gang issues certainly contribute to the lack of perceived safety in these towns - the #1 most dangerous city is right here in the Bayou State.  In fact, the 5 most dangerous cities in the entire country are in our fair state!

The website Neighborhood Scout compiles crime data from across the country in order to inform it's visitors how safe a particular neighborhood is.  The new report shows that even though Detroit has a higher number of total crimes committed, when you factor in the population numbers to show crimes per capita - the numbers are shocking!  When it comes to violent crime, Detroit is reporting 13,742 per year.  That works out to 20.43 violent crimes committed per 1000 people per year.  Frightening, right?  When you apply the formula to Monroe's crime stats, you get 30.43 violent crimes committed per 1000 people per year.  Your chance of being the victim of a violent crime in Monroe is 1 in 33.  In the much safer city of Chicago, it's a 1-in-90 chance.

All in all, Monroe is statistically the most dangerous city in the U.S. - but don't saddle up your high horse just yet!  Louisiana had 5 of the top 100 most dangerous cities, not just the top spot.  Monroe is at #1, Alexandria is #8, New Orleans is #58, Shreveport comes in at #84, and Baton Rouge rounds out our state's contribution to the list at #86.

Locally, at least we can say that Shreveport is safer than Newark, New Jersey.

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