By the author of Be Ready for Anything and the online course Bloom Where You’re Planted
When you think of the most dangerous, violent cities in the world, do you picture slums in Third World countries with vicious drug cartels or arrogant warlords? Maybe the kind of violence where enemies are decapitated and whole families are murdered seem like things that happen far away in some terrifying, exotic locale.
Some of this is true – but FIVE of the world’s most violent cities are right here on the American mainland and another is in an American territory. The list was created by researchers of anti-violence think-tank Seguridad, Justicia Y Paz (Security, Justice, and Peace), who made their rankings based on statistics of homicides per 100,000 residents.
The vast majority of the cities on the list were in Central and South America. Interestingly, the violence in Venezuela appears to have dropped in violence this year, but not because it’s suddenly become a mecca of safety. The official situation there has devolved so much that they simply can’t track all the homicides.
But back to America
We pride ourselves on our first world status and civilized societies, and yet four of our cities ended up on the list of the most dangerous and violent locales on the planet.
They are:
- #13 St. Louis
- #21 Baltimore
- #32 San Juan
- #41 New Orleans
- #42 Detroit
How did these cities make the list?
- St. Louis, Missouri: Since the Ferguson riots, the entire state of Missouri has seen a sharp increase in violence. This has culminated in the city of St. Louis, which had a 2017 murder rate of 65.83 per hundred thousand people. There are thousands of violent crimes each year in the city, which only has a population of about 320,000 people.
- Baltimore, Maryland: The city of Baltimore has an astounding murder rate of 55.48 people per hundred thousand. Last year’s murder rate was nearly as high as the year that the riots erupted over the killing of Freddie Gray by city police officers. There’s a murder nearly every day of the year in Baltimore and the police force there is widely considered to be one of the most corrupt – if not the most corrupt – in the nation.
- San Juan, Puerto Rico: Many will think that San Juan earned its place on the list due to the devastation wrought by two back to back hurricanes, but it was already bad for years before. DHS ties this to drug trafficking. The island territory had begun to see signs of improvement in 2015 after a massive spike in 2011 that brought murders to an all-time high. The homicide numbers didn’t immediately escalate after Hurricane Maria, but as the unrelenting darkness continued, violent crime began to increase until it reached 48.70 murders per hundred thousand residents.
- New Orleans, Louisiana: Murders in New Orleans, Louisiana fell last year but armed robberies and non-fatal shootings have risen by a whopping 30% since 2010. The city is renowned for its food, music, and festivals, making it a popular destination for tourists. Yet, the 40.10 murders per hundred thousand people rank The Big Easy as more dangerous than some of the most notorious cities in Brazil and Columbia.
- Detroit, Michigan: Detroit is the fourth American city to be featured on the list of places you’re most likely to be murdered. With a homicide rate of 39.69 per one hundred thousand people, Detroit was the 42 most dangerous city in the world according to these statistics. The city used to be an American hub of industry, but when the automotive manufacturers left, it fell into disrepair and poverty. Residents have a whopping unemployment rate of almost 11%, the population has plummeted, and since it is one of the poorest cities in the nation, perhaps the residents who remain simply can’t afford to get out.
For those who are interested in preparedness, the collapse of these cities is something to watch. Note how the increase of violence in many cases ties in with a lack of confidence in local law enforcement officers. A failing economy is another factor, as increased desperation leads to increased crime.
What other cities made the list?
Here’s the list of the 50 most violent cities in the world in its entirety:
- Los Cabos, Mexico
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Acapulco, Mexico
- Natal, Brasil
- Tijuana, Mexico
- La Paz, Mexico
- Fortaleza, Brazil
- Victoria, Mexico
- Guayana, Mexico
- Belem, Brazil
- Vitória da Conquista, Brazil
- Culicacan, Mexico
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Maceio, Brazil
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Kingston, Jamaica
- San Salvador, El Salvador
- Aracaju, Brazil
- Feira de Santana, Brazil
- Juarez, Mexico
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Recife, Brazil
- Maturin, Venezuela
- Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Salvador, Brazil
- San Pedro Sula, Honduras
- Valencia, Venezuela
- Cali, Colombia
- Chihuahua, Mexico
- João Pessoa, Brazil
- Obregon, Mexico
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Barquisimeto, Venezuela
- Manaus, Brazil
- Distrito Central, Honduras
- Tepic, Mexico
- Palmira, Colombia
- Reynosa, Mexico
- Porto Alegre. Brazil
- Macapa, Brazil
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Detroit, Michican, USA
- Mazatlán, Mexico
- Durban, South Africa
- Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
- Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa
- Campina Grande, Brazil
- Teresina, Brazil
- Vitoria, Brazil
- Cúcuta, Colombia
Seguridad, Justicia Y Paz blames much of the violence on drug cartel turf wars, economic crises, and violence perpetrated by gangs like MS-13.
Do you have any doubt that violence will be abundant when the SHTF?
All you need to do is look at this list and study these cities to see how violence escalates when the rule of law collapses, when economies crash and people starve, when police officers go dirty, and when criminal gangs turn into the ruling class.
This is just further evidence to support my belief that preppers must be armed. If you are prepping to survive a long-term event, make sure that you plan to survive the escalation of violence, too.
What happened to CHICAGO, ILLINOIS? That is a very dangerous city. Isn’t there tons of crime in Atlanta, Ga. (largest city in the entire south)? I think there must have been a few more than are not on this list. But at any rate it’s ALOT more dangerous out there than it used to be and seems to be getting worse by the year…
Safest thing to do is be far away from any large city regardless of what city it happens to be. When the SHTF then ALL of the rules will change and there really won’t be anymore rules at that time. Each man for himself…Violence will take over and only those who are far away from all of it will even stand a chance.
Those cities have more TOTAL murders but based on the population, the percentage of people murdered is lower.
The numbers in this article are the number of murders per every one hundred thousand people.
For Chicago, that number is 17.5 murders per hundred thousand people.
For Atlanta, it is 20.23 murders per hundred thousand people.
So based on that, the statistical likelihood of a person to be murdered is higher in other cities than in Chicago and Atlanta.
I am also surprised Chicago didn’t make the list, and surprised to see Detroit behind the other US cities listed. One thing to remember, and I am not saying this organization did anything wrong in their methodology. But statistics can be ‘skewed’ to promote whatever viewpoint is presenting them. That said, this study/methodology would certainly include Chicago if it were strictly based on US statistics. I am sure those particular statistics are available elsewhere on the web.
I lived in St. Louis for several years because of my job — years before the Ferguson riots. I lived in a really nice apartment building in the nicest neighbor of St. Louis, called the Central West End. Even back then, the crime was mind-boggling. Crime hung in the air like fog. People acted like crime was some kind of natural weather phenomenon that had no cause and that no one could do anything about. There were home invasions of the apartments in my building; attempted murders in front of my building; attempted rapes behind my building; cars regularly stolen, vandalized, and robbed. I was afraid to walk anywhere. Again, this was in the nicest neighborhood of St. Louis. The sad, sad thing is that there was so much I liked about St. Louis. It had a fabulous arts, culture and music scene, gorgeous housing stock, and glorious city parks. I actually thought about buying a home in St. Louis but realized the outrageous crime rate negated every positive aspect of that city. Very sad to see a great American city crumble like that.
17 of 50 are in Brazil, yet no breathless statement about how dangerous that country is?
And what about Kabul, Aleppo and other cities in the Middle East. Wars must not count.
It may not have come to your attention but AMERICA starts at the arctic circle and ends at Tiera del fuego in Chili
So I suggest you review your article and state that all the cities on the list are in AMERICA.
If you are referring to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA then please be so kind as to be more clear
about what geographical country you are referring to
May I suggest Google Earth or a good atlas.
Thank you in advance for corrections to come.
g
Another interesting fact is that each of the US cities listed, has been part of the problem of Socialist/Democrat controlled metro areas for far too long. Those policies are abject failures, as witnessed by the bung holes their “shining examples “ of Marxist/Progressive Mismanagement have truly become. No amount of Federal monies are going to fix those corruption ridden pustules on the buttocks of the world.
Even the residents who are trapped there, deserve far better than the political sodomization administers to them daily, by their Democratic Party machines of “government”.
Yep. If you look at the cities on the list you’ll find a common denominator. Democrat, minority control, and if you dig even deeper, I’ll just bet the city administrations are all dipping in the til.
When did Puerto Rico become an American state, or were you educated in the public fool system?
Their murder rate probably dropped precipitously when they got the big flush from Maria.
As the article notes, they’re an American territory. Nowhere did I call them a state. I’m sure you meant this helpfully.
Conspicuous by its absence is Washington, DC. So dangerous that the people who “work” there don;t live there, opting for the safety of suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia, when they’re not wasting those dollars.
Also, this doesn’t include the biggest crime of all–the massive theft of our hard-owned dollars by those politicians and bureaucrats who life safely in the confort of MD and Northern VA.
What are the most violent cities in America in per capita shootings. Where does Durham, N.C. rank?
Bingo. This is the same process played out in a larger way that I described with my own wife. Rod, I do think that once people come to this realization that the “liberation” rhetoric is BS and it’s about power not compassion many can and do go hard right but I’d suggest that’s because in looking for an alternative to this poison. Notice where the poison is so often directed at tradition and traditionalism. If people whose definition of freedom involves me agreeing under threat of doxxing or threats to my children that men have uteruses, first of all they can eff off, and second, if the traditionalism they so loathe is the polar opposite of what they seek, and that traditionalism- faith, family, frugality in fact sustained civil society for many years, maybe its worth thinking about that. Maybe it’s worth examining the constraints against which the “activists” struggle to see what they’re actually destroying when they try to rend them asunder. And if in fact you see beauty or truth there it’s worth trying to save.
The Earth isn’t safe anymore. I want to leave where no humans will infect their vicious and vile habits.
Sad commentary on factual, actual state of things in America with high incarceration rate in the world. Welcome to the United States of Mexico; headed for the same ratio.
I gotta say I lived in Detroit from 2006 to 2007 and it is a place I will never ever live or visit again. It’s so sad that it has fallen down so much since their riots. The motor industry fell sharply and left so many people with nothing in its wake. The empty houses are filled with drug users, gangs and dealers. Not to mention, rats, roaches, etc. When one burns down those things leave the home and run to the next. I never once saw a cop patrol the area. The few times I did see a cop was when they went into the drug houses to get a pat off to keep cops from patrolling. It was the most disgraceful thing I ever saw. The fast food joints all had thick plate glass with a 3 sided lazy Susan in drive through so you could put your money on it, they spun it around took the money and then put your food on it and spun it back to you. There were security guards at local businesses like T-Mobile. The streets had huge pot holes and old burned out abandoned buildings just rotting away. I had bullets hit my home several times, heard gun shots every day, had a gun pulled on me when I went to help save a woman’s life after she was pushed out of a moving vehicle by her childrens father because she didn’t want to be with him any more. Then after calling the ambulance it took them 45 minutes after being hung up on twice. Ultimately, the woman lived. But Detroit was and is still so dangerous and nobody there gives 2 shits about the chaos they create and leave a trail of destruction. There is no accountability for those who perpetrate these horrible acts upon another.
Hi Daisy,
Thank you SO MUCH for all of the helpful research and information you share with us! As for this article, would you happen to have any current stats on this list?