1 Detroit, MI
2 St. Louis, MO
3 Atlanta, GA
4 Camden, NJ
5 Washington, DC
6 Compton, CA
7 Dayton, OH
8 Baltimore, MD
9 Tampa, FL
10 Gary, IN
11 Memphis, TN
12 North Charleston, SC
13 New Orleans, LA
14 Richmond, VA
15 Trenton, NJ
16 Jackson, MS
17 Cincinnati, OH
18 Youngstown, OH
19 Cleveland, OH
20 Springfield, MA
21 Oakland, CA
22 Birmingham, AL
23 Miami, FL
24 Richmond, CA
25 Reading, PA

( Here's part of the methodology used-rdhull )

The methodology for determining America’s "Safest" City and Metro Area involves a multi-step process. First, 2002 city and metro area crime rates per 100,000 population (the most recent comparable final numbers available, released by the FBI in October 2003) for six basic crime categories — murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft — were plugged into a formula that measured how a particular city or metro area compared to the national average for a given crime category. The outcome of this equation was then multiplied by a weight assigned to each of the six crime categories. Each of the six crimes was given equal weight. By weighting each crime equally, cities are compared based purely on their crime rates and how they stack up to the national average for a particular crime category. These weighted numbers then were added together for a city or metro area’s final score. Finally, these scores were ranked from lowest to highest to determine which cities and metropolitan areas were safest and most dangerous.

While this methodology appears rather complicated, it results in fairer treatment because a city or metro area’s crime record is measured against the national average. The farther below the national average, the higher (and better) a city or metro ranked in the final Safest Cities and Metros list; the farther above the national average, the lower (and worse) a city or metro ranked in the final list.

Like the last five years' awards, all cities of 75,000 population or more that reported data for the six categories of crime measured for the survey were included in the competition. In previous years, the population cut-off for cities was 100,000+ population. There was no population minimum for metropolitan areas. In all, 350 cities and 281 metro areas were included in the survey.

MISSING CITIES
This year, several cities of 75,000+ population did not report complete crime information and thus were not included in the Safest Cities rankings.

Chicago and Other Illinois Cities: For several years, rape numbers submitted by cities in the state of Illinois have not met the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) guidelines. This remains the case with 2002 crime data. According to state statisticians, the state of Illinois tracks "sexual assault," which includes not only female rapes, but also offenses such as male rape, sodomy, etc. For these reasons, Chicago and other Illinois cities once again are not found in this year's Safest City rankings. However, Chicago and other Illinois cities are included in our book City Crime Rankings for all of the other crimes.

Yuma, Arizona: Yuma is included in our book City Crime Rankings but is not part of our Safest City rankings. This is because numbers were not available for aggravated assault through the uniform crime report.

Other Cities: Crime data for a number of other cities with populations larger than 75,000 are not reported in this 10th edition of City Crime Rankings. Crime statistics for these cities are not included for a number of reasons, ranging from general reporting difficulties and computer issues to changes in reporting systems. Below is a list of cities that the Census Bureau showed as having populations greater than 75,000 but for which no information was available through the 2002 F.B.I.’s Uniform Crime Report:

Albany, NY

Las Cruces, NM

Arlington Heights, IL

Longmont, CO

Augusta, GA

Nashua, NH

Canton, OH

New Bedford, MA

Centennial CA

New Haven, CT

Cicero IL

Newport Beach, CA

Citrus Heights, CA

Newton, MA

Decatur, IL

Roanoke, VA

Elgin, IL

Santa Maria, CA

Elk Grove, CA

Waukegan, IL

Hillsboro, OR

Westminster, CO

Kansas City, KS

Worcester, MA

You are CUTE squared!

SWEET!!! I went to high school in #5 graduated high school in #4 and currently live outside #3.

I RULE!!!

The D is #1, this is great news.

I was looking for another reason to love my home.

Damn, someone needs to take some barbed wire and wrap the shit around the entire state of Ohio.

Illimack...born in #21 and raised in #24.

yay! elk grove made the list of no data! and i thought we sucked.

Interesting... Westminster, Colo used to be one of the safest suburbs of Denver.

rdhull said:

I'm in the Tampa Bay area

Detroit...

south central compton and watts , long beach bust a U there go the cops... wow I knew LA was safe.

New Bedford and Worcester don't surprise me.

Anywhere I happen to be at the moment.

illimack said:

you're soft.

I'm hardcore.

fuck yeah! I made the list.

Youngstown Ohio!

I moved to a small neighboring city of Niles for work last spring.

come to think of it, Ohio is on there quite a bit.
[This message was edited Tue Dec 2 11:51:09 PST 2003 by Tom]

Tom said:

I see it's a dangerous place for dogs!

hmmm... but wait, hasn't Chicago had the highest murder rate for like the last 3 years?

AaronUniversal said:

SHNOOKUMS!!!

GirlIntercepted said:

SWEENY!!!

Dayton, Ohio, is #7?!? That's comedy. But I guess that is where Roger Troutman got smoked.
[This message was edited Tue Dec 2 21:21:18 PST 2003 by Lammastide]

Thats appropriate since it would represent guess 25! Too Funny!

GI in the house.

Gary sure was fun when I grew up.

It was the murder capital back then, but I never knew of anyone being murdered.

Anyone else from Gary?

I urge everyone to buy Esham's new album "Repentance" which has a GREAT song about living in Detroit. He acknowledges the high crime rate...but gives the city MAD PROPS.

He even mentions Hazel Park and Hamtramck!

Detroit isn't THAT bad...it's got a great spirit and I love the area more than anyplace else I've lived...and I've lived in four states.

DudeDrops said:

Esham has gone unnoticed for far too long.

rdhull said:

rdhull said:

YES! Rock!

Modesto California too, alot of crazy shit happens around here.

sosgemini said:

Fuck that!! Oakland has to be in the top ten. We can kill people just as good as any of the top five cities and better than all the rest. When is oakland gonna get its props?

CtheUncanny said:

Hey Cutes!

GirlIntercepted said:

Hi, whoever you are