The birthplace of General Motors, Flint has been in economic free fall ever since the auto industry began its own precipitous decline. In the early 1980s, there were nearly 80,000 auto manufacturing jobs in the city. Now, they're nearly all gone.
As a result, median household income has fallen 45% below the median for the entire state and the poverty rate is near 40%.
The cash-strapped city has had to cut police pay and lay off officers, which has handicapped the crime fighting effort. There were 67 murders in Flint in 2012, an all-time high. Last year, things stabilized a bit, with the number of murders falling to 55.
The city did not respond to requests for comment.