At its peak in 1991, the number of murders in the United States was 24,703, according to the FBI. In 2013, the country had 14,196 murders, a 4.4 percent decrease from the year before.
The bad news: In many corners of the country, crime is still a big problem — and it’s hard to quantify.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report has arguably been the most comprehensive and organized collection of crime data to date, which is why many have turned to it as a source. Using the numbers from the 2013 report, FindTheHome was able to visualize the report and find where the most violent crime per 100,000 people occurs in Illinois. A few things to note:
A violent crime includes murder, rape (legacy or revised definition depending on your state), robbery and aggravated assault.
A crime is classified under either city or county jurisdiction (never both), so FindTheHome added city and county crimes together to come up with a number for the county as a whole.
The report does not include reporting agencies that don’t comply with the national UCR guidelines.
Alexander County is the most crime-ridden county, with 1,754.4 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The most common crime is assaults, with 128 total reported cases. Calhoun County follows with 1,205.1 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
Crime-ridden counties also have relatively low median home sales prices. Cook County stands with a median home sales price of $233,000 and 321.4 violet crimes per 100,000 residents.
