SPOKANE, Wash. -- Spokane has one of the highest crime rates in the U.S., according to the site Neighborhood Scout. KREM 2 verified that claim last week.
But the crime rate does not mean the city is one of the most dangerous cities. The site also has a list for the top 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S. Viewers asked us why Spokane is not on that list, even when our crime rate is so high.
Neighborhood Scout said the important thing to notice about this list of top 100 most dangerous cities is that it is based only on violent crime rates. Those violent crimes include homicide, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault. The report also looks at cities with a population of at least 25,000 or more based on the number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents.
Neighborhood Scout's report shows the most dangerous U.S. city is East St. Louis, Illinois, which has a violent crime rate of 33.18 per 1,000 residents. The 100th most dangerous U.S. city is Wheeling, West Virginia with a violent crime rate of 9.15 per 1,000 residents.
Spokane does not make the list because its violent crime rate is only 5.44 per 1,000 residents, which is no where near the lowest rate on the list of 100. In fact, Spokane is much closer to the national average of 3. 8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.
Neighborhood Scout goes on to say that while Spokane does have a very high overall crime rate, many of those crimes are in fact property crime. Even though Spokane's Violent Crime Rate is above the national average, it is not high enough to make the list of the Top 100 Most Dangerous Cities.
KREM 2 also compared Spokane's crime rates to the list of safest cities and we do not make that list either.