At its peak in 1991, the number of murders 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 Texas. 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.
Loving County is the most crime-ridden county, with 3,448.3 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The most common crime is assaults, with three total reported cases. Starr County follows with 1,317.0 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
Crime-ridden counties also have relatively low median home sales prices. Harris County has a median sales price of $208,910 and rate of 738 crimes per 100,000 people.