3 NJ cities among the most dangerous in the U.S.

It seems like every time we turn around we see New Jersey cities on a "top 100 list" for all that’s negative: Highest taxes, most people looking to flee, least business-friendly, etc.

I’d like to tell you that this list is different, but it’s not.

Every year, the website Neighborhood Scout puts together the numbers of the most dangerous cities in America. We are lucky that none of our New Jersey cities ever land in the top 10. But unfortunately, we always have some contenders among the top 100 most dangerous cities in America. And, for 2022, one is in the top 15!

As was the case in surveys past, the Neighborhood Scout research includes only big cities in America—ones that have 25,000 or more residents.

They base their findings on the number of violent crimes—murder, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault—per 1,000 residents. The ones with the most are considered to be the most dangerous cities in America.

See the full results from Neighborhood Scout here.

Interestingly, the most violent city in America has been the same for a couple years in a row. It is Monroe, Louisiana, which has a violent crime rate of 29.4 per 1,000 people. That means the chance of being a victim of violent crime is 1 in 34.

Most of the cities that end up on this list are repeaters. They keep showing up year after year. Some come and go, like Salt Lake City, Utah, which disappeared for a while and for some reason is back on the list at number 80. (26% violent crime increase year after year)

I love the Neighborhood Scout database because it actually has a creative feature where you can set a radius around any place you choose to also find the LOW percentages of crime: a.k.a. the SAFEST cities near where you live.

At any rate, this list contains the usual New Jersey suspects. No surprise to anyone, it’s Camden, New Jersey.

At number 14 of the top 100 most dangerous cities in the country, Camden has a Violent Crime Rate of 16.5 per 1,000 residents. In plain talk, that means your chance of being a victim of a violent crime in Camden is a frightening 1 in 61.

Trenton follows at number 57 of the top 100 with Violent Crime Rate of 10.8 per 1,000 residents, making your chance of being a victim in Trenton just one in 93.

The other New Jersey city that makes it to the top 100 is, also pretty predictably, Paterson, with a Violent Crime Rate of 9.0 crimes per 1,000 residents. That makes your chance of being a victim of a violent crime in Paterson a frightening 1 in 111.

For reference, remember, the most dangerous city in America, the aforementioned Monroe, Louisiana has a Violent Crime Rate of 29.4 per 1,000 residents, making your chance of being a victim in this violent Louisiana city only 1 in 3.

I mention this again because I’m hoping that, by comparison, it’ll make you feel safer in our three New Jersey hotspots.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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