Detroit, Michigan, consistently ranks as the most dangerous city of the United States, with consistent high violent and property crime rates every year. Though some parts of this Midwest city are safe, others are in a state of abandonment and decay.
Detroit was originally an industrial boom town up through the 1950s, when its population went from 250,000 in 1900 to 1.8 million in 1950. Since its peak of population and prosperity, about half of that number has fled from the urban area in Detroit proper. Economic outsourcing occurred, so factories were shut down and jobs became scarce. Thousands of people moved out into the suburbs, or to entirely different places. This ongoing white flight effect has resulted in leaving back entire sections of the once-bustling city into depressed blocks of abandoned buildings undergoing urban decay. While some districts of Detroit, like downtown, are safe, other parts are full of falling-apart houses, stray animals running around and garbage thrown around the streets. In the past ten years, the city government has made efforts to demolish some of the abandoned buildings from federal funds, as renovations do not appear likely.
Though it used to be much worse in the 1970s, Detroit is still plagued by the acts of various crimes. About 1 in 16 people are likely to be victims of a property crime, ranging from theft, burglary or arson. Detroit is also a notorious violent city, with murder rates that are always within the top ten for American cities each year. In 2009, there were 379 counted homicides, and 364 of these were determined as criminal homicides. The year 2008 had a high volume of violent crimes, with rates of 40.6 homicides, 36.4 forcible rapes, 675.1 robberies and 1,178.8 cases of aggravated assault per 100,000 people in Detroit. Many of these unfortunate incidents are due to gangs and drug-related incidents.
The police force of Detroit also factors in as a problem to the greater picture. Not enough resources have been invested into public safety, and when budget cuts occur, crime enforcement takes a toll.
haha yer right
I LIVE IN DETROIT AND AND BEEN ALL OVER AND IT DOES NOT SURPRISE ME I EXPECTED TO SEE DETROIT ON HERE THIS CITY IS VERY DANGEROUS YOU GOT TO LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDERS EVERY SECOND AND IF YOU FORGET TO YOU WILL BE A STATISTIC SAD BUT TRUE
This is BS. If you’re careful where you go, you’re fine in Detroit. Detroit at least has a government that is not corrupt…thats the scariest thing when it comes to other countries, corrupt governments that can be bribed and paid off. Detroit should not be on the list. The US is the greatest country in the world…and I have been ALL OVER the world. I still choose to live in Michigan among ALL places I have been.
Justin, you didn’t say that you choose to live in Detroit, Michigan…there’s a bit of a difference. I’m sure in almost all of the cities on this list you can be careful where you go and be fine. Also, isn’t the Mayor basically bribing the Detroit police to move back into the city. I’m sure they didn’t all move out of the city due to decreasing home values. And I hope you’re not naive enough to think that the US government isn’t corrupt. It’s not as corrupt as other places in the world but it’s corrupt. I’m not saying Detroit is a terrible place but there’s probably 1,000+ other places in the US I’d rather visit.
Justin,
“Detroit at least has a government that is not corrupt” are you on drugs??
Kwame Kilpatrick, former Mayor of Detroit, is in prison and awaiting trial on 10 federal felony counts related to corruption.
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, former 13th District (Detroit) US House Representative, and her husband, are awaiting trial on an 89 page federal indictment on charges related to corruption.
Stephen Hill, a former executive director for Detroit Public Schools, and 4 of his employees were indicted in US Federal Court in October on charges related to corruption.
Monica Conyers, former President of Detroit City Council, is serving 3 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges related to corruption.
Sam Riddle Jr., former political advisor to the Mayor of Detroit, is serving a 37-month sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges related to corruption (he’s in the same prison as Bernie Madoff).
Mary Waters, a former Michigan State Representative, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in the city of Detroit in 2010 on a charge related to corruption.
And thats just the tip of the iceberg. The corruption probe into the city of Detroit is just getting started. Expect to see many more indictments related to corruption coming out of Detroit in the next few years.
In regards to violence, crime, and unemployment…
In 2009, the FBI reported nearly 2,000 violent crimes per 100,000 people in the city of Detroit, nearly 150% higher than the national average, and those are just the reported crimes. Detroit recorded a 40.1 homicide rate, 6th highest in the US. There were over 5,500 property damage crimes reported in 2009, and again, those are just the reported crimes. Detroit reported an unemployment rate of 19.1% in December 2010, 10.2% higher than the national average, and for one to be considered “unemployed” they must be actively seeking employment. Many Detroiters are not seeking employment, living off the drug trade and social welfare.
So, yes, Detroit belongs on this list.
Detroit? Really? You’ve GOT to be kidding. I’ve been to downtown Detroit. I’d be more scared to go outside in the middle of the night with a giant slab of raw meat on me like in those commercials. And I live in the woods. Seriousley, Detroit’s NOT that bad. Get over it.
I HAD the pleasure of living in detroit in early 90s its no more dangerous than any city in the world and have visited it 6 months ago as have friends there im from uk
Peter knows his shit.
Black Americans have a higher violence and crime rate in Detroit. Si it`s better for all decent people, Asians, White etc. to not socialize with Blacks. This will make your life better!
I live in Detroit city, and it is a great American city. It is not as bad as people seem to think. There are many blighted areas of abandonment and high crime areas, but the parts of the city most people would visit are solid. Detroit has nothing in common with nightmare places like Jaurez, Somalia, Chechnya, or Baghdad. To even suggest it is crazy.
Tim, you are simply ignorant. Everyone can be violent not just Blacks. Who did the shooting at Columbine, Virginia Tech, the Amish shooting, The Holocaust, colonization of Africa, whipping out the Native Americans, Internment camps for the Japanese, Who is in the Russian Mob, The Italian Mob, enslaving blacks in America, in South America,or Caribbean, Christian Crusades, etc (LET ME GIVE YOU A HINT IT AINT THE BLACK!!!!!!)
Being racist like that is a huge problem and you are solving anything by saying ridiculous thing like that! I have never been to Detroit before but I know people from there and it is no worse than Miami, Cleveland, New York or any other major city in the United States.
I have been to detroit a few times in the downtown area it isn’t as bad as people make it sound.
Seriously…Are you kidding Detroit the worst city!! You have got to be out of your mind. I lived Detroit in the Mexican Town district and I have been everywhere by bus in Detroit…yeah it may have a murder here in there but generally it is a safe city nothing ever happened to me or my family. Compared to LA, Saint Louis, Gary, Camden, Chicago: Detroit is a very safe city and stop with the false propaganda about detroit!!! Because those cities mentioned are 2 to 7 times as worse!
go to ask.com and Type what is the worse city in the u.s.
your still better off in detroit then anywhere else on the list
Sam’s right. Compared to second and third world countries Detroit is safe as houses – in some parts. Other sections are like walking through a DMZ. Fortunately the dangerous sections are small. If you travel in Detroit get a map and find out the places you should stay away from, then stay away from those places.
Pretty much +100,000 city in the world has its downpoints. I used to live in Detroit, and it feels a lot more safe then where I live now (London, England). How can this city be on the list, ive been all around the world and the U.S.A. is still the best country in the world, or at least better than anywhere in Europe.
Unquestionably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason appeared to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people consider worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
we’ve been to detroit before, its not bad at all in some places but my dad took a wrong turn and we ended up in a nasty looking area…old torn up buildings, some burned, and he even passed a car with bullet holes in it…detroit is only bad in certain areas
@Ashley
Shootings of Columbine were done by Jewish youths. The Holocaust is a myth build up by Jews.
Uhhh…Much rather be in Detroit than Peshawar, Kabul, Guadalajara, Tiujuana, Damascus, , etc etc etc This list includes one city in USA just to cause controversy and feed the lies that non-Americans believe: OMG USA is so dangerous. Get over yourselves.
Well honestly, you can say that you live in a safe city when you don’t have to avoid walking in several parts of your city. Can you say such about Detroit? There you have it. You guys may think that “the US is the greatest country in the world”, sheesh, you know what? I think MY country is, but please don’t fool yourselves about your supposed safety.
I don’t know every statistic, but I live in Michigan and even I know that as long as you don’t run your mouth, act unreasonably, or get involved with shit you probably shouldn’t get involved in you’ll be fine in Detroit. It all comes down to common sense and respect. The articles written about Detroit were most likely written by people who aren’t residents of Detroit or even Michigan, and have probably never been to either.
Very bad, I got lost and stopped to ask for directions and got beat up and lost my money and a little ring.
I will never visit the U.S. again.
You are right Toshi what you say, theres no way any city in the US should be in the top 10 or even top 20 30 40 50 or 100 list of most dangerous cities in the world, there are literally hundreds of cities in the developing world which are way more dangerous then any city in the US, any city in Africa Central America South America the developing parts of Asia most of Eastern Europe the Caribbean and most of Oceania are more way dangerous then any city in the US, people are such ignorant fools and people love to always criticise and bag the US saying it’s violent and dangerous which is crap, the US is no more violent and dangerous then most developed countries and infact there are many developed countries which are more violent and dangerous then the US such as my home country Australia the UK France Italy and Greece, all of those countries have higher crime rates aswell as higher violent crime rates then the US, you hear about crime aswell as violent crime more often in the US then you do in other developed countries because the US has a much bigger population then other developed countries and the US is also more culturally diverse and has more poverty and more drugs then other developed countries, overall the US is a safe country and is one of the safest countries in the world.
As an outsider, looking at ways to live cheaper, how can I derive anything from these unbelievably opposite posts. There is high crime there isnt. Who should I believe? Let me guess I would have to go there and see if I am ok after a week? If I gave you a specific address, could you tell me if I was safe? Also, these homes for dirt cheap, do they have plumbing ect?
Yeahhh… We are dangerous!!!
most dangerous city in the US – not the world! If you think the US is as dangerous as say, India, youd be a complete moron.
Wow detroid seriously I have lived in another country(el Salvador)and saying detroid is more dangerous than that country or Kabul baghdad or Mogadishu what kind of stupidity is that detroid is not a war zone detroid has not terrorist bombings the government in detroid tough far from perfect ar least operates a police force forbes hates the usa(I am not american so I am not biased) just look at all their lists they have something against the usa which Is the greaggest country in the world so jealous people just please get over that fact.
smurfx, you have got to be on drugs, statistics don’t lie Detroit is not a safe place. And then you have the nerve to mention Chicago as being worse than Detroit? Chicago has a dense population and the bad areas of Chicago are far away from the downtown area, you can’t say that about Detroit, you go a half mile in each direction of downtown Detroit your in a bad neighborhood, you simply have no clue. The area around Grand River and Joy is no different than the area around 63rd and Halsted, you are nuts if you think Detroit is safe.
To the people that seem to think Detroit isn’t as bad as people think it is you are crazy. Then I see some people say it’s not as bad as people think I was in the downtown area and was ok. Yeah you were downtown, you saw 1 square mile of the city, there are 138 square miles that you didn’t see. Living in denial isn’t going to get you anywhere, Detroit is a crime ridden city and anyone that thinks it’s not has no clue, I’ve been all over Detroit it’s not this safe place you think it is, as a matter of fact I find it funny that anyone thinks Detroit is safe, there is a reason it’s the most dangerous city in the U.S., it’s not safe in Detroit.
@ TIM and all Racist …..
I’m from Flint, Mi which is in the top 5 worst and dangerous city 2 live in in the US (research true fact) only 50 min from Detroit so having nd lived in both I should they are only dangerous places if your from the streets or live on the street and I’m from the street Detroit is not that bad just watch your back and stay away from the underworld which every city have also stay away from racist whites who blame everythang violent on black ppl (how stupid) u racist people stealer, country taker meth using, wet dog smeling, lice having, pale sick skin having blue eyed devil…. Do your reshearch white ppl is responsible for almost everything bad in this world I’m glad we have a black President cause white ppl keep us in dept and hold our own countrymen back now that why black ppl r sometimes violent we had the perfect example example in white know a lot of good ones and love a lot of them but for the most part they are evil and racist and the ones I know and love agree with me so I’m blaming Detroit Crime and proverty on racist white ppl I bet 2 zillion a racist white man wrote the blasphemy…..concluding Detroit is safer than being in a racist suburb
Sorry 4 the typos….. Mobil phone
wow what a fight in here. let me tell you something
to all of you who think detroit shouldnt be on the list, hell yeah it should. Im from switzerland, its not safe at night anywhere. but lets say IF anything happens here in Zurich (400 odd thousand), murder, for example.. the whole country keeps talking about it for weeks and mentions it for months if not years after as a horrible crime. but i’ve had a pleasure of staying in michigan as an exchange student and ive never been so scared for my life before coming home from the club. ive visited rio de janeiro, paris, new york,london, and among the big cities detroit is a dump. i mean i loved my time there just for the experience, as i love travelling. but what amazes me the most is that youre all like ‘you must be crazy comparing detroit to dadadada’…hello?!open your eyes!! JUST BECAUSE ITS IN THE U.S. DOESNT MEAN ITS NOT AS DANGEROUS AS ANYWHERE ELSE..its 100 times more dangerous than my city, seemed much more dangerous than bigger cities such as Paris.. so why shouldnt it make the list?? i love THE PEOPLE of detroit, the people i have met were AMAZING! which doesnt mean the place isnt a dump..
Needless to say, check all the different sources on the web. United states, you dont do bad!! and you dont do good either.. as a whole country you did much better than Brazil, Honduras, Jamaica, Russia, Estonia, Colombia etc…But did much worse than Georgia (europe), Latvia, Bangladesh, Israel, Taiwan or Czech Republic. so why is it so impossible for detroit to be in here?? statisticly and being realistic… Source. 2010 list of international homicide rate…As to the cities according to various different sources the US leader in the homicide rate is St.Louis with over 13 000 violent crimes (to 100 000) in 2010, where Paris scored 2800 violent crimes (to 100 000 inhabitants)… wowza.. go figure
Isaiah has insulted & degraded me like I’ve never been. I am a blue eyed , white suburbanite. I am just the same as anyone else. I have the same everyday problems as people that live in the city. I also have the same delights as well. We are just people in this world just struggling through to have a somewhat decent life for ourselves & our loved ones. WE have crime too. But that ‘Racist’ stuff, that’s of yesterday. It’s a small minded way to think. my Heart goes out to you. I’ll pray for you . Don’t waste your time on that stuff.
Racism…Come on! White verse Black and Black Verse White…Get OVER IT! We bleed the same!Everything in the past we can not be accountable for…All of our ancesters lead the way and unfortuantly everyone pays for thier mistakes. Look at one another as another brother or Sister. Remember 911 we all were united! Don’t continue looking at your skin! look at the hearts of people. Maybe this person just needs a little love! a hug, a smile or a simple hello. Dont profile people and judge them on the way your skin looks. You are who you are and act as you do becasue you let others tell you how to use your mind. Stand up for what you belive in…But dont freaking hate people because of their skin.the people of this great nation and those that fight for your freedom is in every skin tone. One is lighter than the other. No one knows just how much one or the other has gone through. God loves each and everyone of us! If you continue to hate..You will be irate…Just meditate…Black eyed peas! Where is the love! Great song. By the way Im white and my sister is white. My sister has Black children and I see nothing differnt other than my family.
These are all cities with different kinds of violence. Detroit has high numbers cause of presence of poor unemployed people with no perspectives and lots of addicts that practice crimes for money and thugs that kill each other on the dealing bussiness; Juarez is much different, and has much higher crime rates – it has powerful cartels that saves no one lives, either mexican or american, or dealer or addict or authority, with so much money from coke that judges and the police are entirely on their pocket. And you have bagdhad or that city in Chechnia, with political issues that makes crime even higher.
I am 35 years old and have lived in Detroit all my life. What people have to understand is that if u are in the streets and live’n the fast life it will catch up with u! Yeah ur gonna have a robbery or murder wherever u go, all these murders that happening in the city of Detroit ARE NOT RANDOM ACTS… these people know who they are looking for!!! Ur just not gonna get murdered for walking out ur front door. KEEP UR NOSE CLEAN AND MIND UR BUISNESS AND U HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. I Love my city and ain’t move’n for no one!!! EVERYBODY I KNOW THAT’S BEEN MURDERED HAS ALWAYS BEEN INVOLVED IN SOME BS! With the exception of one.
Cmon people, stop trying to ignore the problem. We all know that Blacks=Higher crime rates. Look at Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans, St.Louis, all of these places have been in the top 10 for years because of their large black populations.
A dangerous city but a bit hard done by being on here, but I recognize it’s dangers.
As someone said above, you can’t know a city when you’ve been swanning around a one square mile area in the middle for a fortnight. You just cannot go around claiming you know the city with that experience, I’ve had the same discussion on the Bogotá comments.
Still, 9 murders per 100,000 for Detroit in 2010 in a city of 4 or 5 million suggests it’s unlucky to be listed.
now i wonder why Eminem is such a hardcore
shut ur mouth blacks r ppl too leave em outa this its alll u whites screwing things up so piss off!!!