A year of accolades for Birmingham from media outlets around the country for everything from the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement, to the opening of Regions Field and Rail Road Park, to being named an All American City may be overshadowed by the most recent national news.
Birmingham is still one of the most dangerous cities in America with a poverty rate two times higher than the national average, according to a report from 24/7 WallSt.com which cited the latest FBI statistics report.
The article ranked Birmingham 7th on their list of The Most Dangerous Cities in America.
“Birmingham had among the 10 highest murder and aggravated assault rates at 31.4 cases per 100,000 people and 954.2 cases per 100,000 residents, respectively, in 2012,” 24/7 WallSt.com said. “The city also had 6,934.1 property crimes per 100,000 people in 2012, higher than all but four other cities. This included 2,205.7 burglaries per 100,000, the sixth highest of all cities. City residents are in a far worse economic position than the nation as a whole. The median household income in Birmingham was just $28,646 in 2011, far lower than the $50,502 across the United States. Also, 32% of the population lived below the poverty line that year, compared with just under 16% nationwide.”
The article, which cited the FBI Uniform Crime Report, also said, “Crime in these cities is typically not limited to just violent crime. Three cities — Birmingham, St. Louis and Oakland — were among the 10 worst cities in the nation for both violent crime and property crime.”
“After falling for five consecutive years, the number of violent crimes across the United States rose by 1.2% in 2012. Based on data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the increase was even greater in some of America’s largest cities. In 2012, for the third year in a row, Flint, Michigan had the highest violent crime rate in the country,” according to the report.