via flickr/Nicole Yeary
An annual study from Law Street Media has ranked St. Louis the No. 4 most dangerous city two years in a row.
St. Louis is the fourth most dangerous city in America for the second year in a row, according to this year’s ranking from Law Street Media.
St. Louis ranked No. 4 in 2014 also, a small drop from its No. 3 spot in 2013. Law Street compiles its annual rankings of the safest and most dangerous cities in the U.S. using FBI violent crime statistics.
The study points to St. Louis’ murder rate to explain the city’s high ranking. St. Louis saw 159 homicides in 2014, the latest year for which complete statistics are available, compared to 120 homicides in 2013. With more than two months left in 2015, St. Louis passed last year’s tally of 159 homicides last week when workers found the body of missing veteran Robert Polk in the Baden neighborhood.
See also: Robert Polk, Army Veteran Shopping for Car on Craigslist, Found Shot to Death
St. Louis is consistently ranked among the top ten most dangerous U.S. cities. Last year, a CNN Money study named St. Louis the No. 5 most dangerous city due to its increasing murder rate.
Here’s how Law Street breaks down the numbers for St. Louis:
"St. Louis retains its No. 4 ranking despite seeing a 5 percent increase in its violent crime rate in 2014, according to Law Street. Only the number of rapes fell last year, while the number of crimes in each of the other categories climbed. The most notable increase came in murders, with 159 taking place in 2014 as compared to 120 in 2013.
Here are the ten most dangerous cities in America, according to the study:
1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Memphis, Tennessee
3. Oakland, California
4. St. Louis, Missouri
5. Birmingham, Alabama
6. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
7. Baltimore, Maryland
8. Cleveland, Ohio
9. Stockton, California
10. Indianapolis, Indiana
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
