Most dangerous cities

Crime index*: 279.5
Population: 212,038

With 78 murders in 2012, Birmingham had the not-so-honorable distinction of being one of the top 10 cities for homicides. Last year, the city recorded 67 murders.

"We've worked diligently to build up the police force and its technology," said Mayor William Bell. "We revitalized and expanded patrols and our numbers have been down three years in a row. The homicide rate is the lowest in 10 years."

An ongoing downtown revival, which includes the building of a new park, minor league baseball stadium and the re-purposing of old warehouses and railroad buildings, has brought new life to many streets, which has helped to make them safer.

Recently improved street and park lighting has also helped keep the streets safer, added the city's chief of staff, Erskine "Chuck" Faush.

First published February 3, 2014: 6:24 PM ET

Source: Source: CQ Press compiled this index using data reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Crime in the United States 2012." CQ Press notes that the FBI no longer ranks cities based on their crime statistics because each city reports crimes differently and some crimes go unreported, causing the index to be an unreliable indicator of crime. There are many factors that cause the nature and type of crime to vary from place to place.
*The crime index is a formula that takes into account the weighted average of six crime categories murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and property crimes of burglary and motor vehicle theft, as well as the population of the city. The national rate is 1 and any number higher than that indicates a higher than average incidence of crime. To read CQ Press' methodology, click here.
**List includes cities with populations of 75,000 or more.

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