Nevada: America's Most Dangerous State

The latest crime rankings by state have been released by CQ Press. New Hampshire is the safest state while Nevada is the most dangerous. New Hampshire has a population of approximately 1.3 million people. In 2009, there were a total of 13 murders. The murder rate is therefore about 1 murder for every 100,000 people.

At the other extreme is Nevada. The murder rate is over 6 murders per 100,000 people. In addition, Nevada has the highest robbery rate of 249 cases per 100,000. The national rate is 145 per 100,000 people. New Hampshire's robbery rate is one-eighth of Nevada's at about 32 robberies per 100,000 people.

Pennsylvania was ranked 25th for a second consecutive year. Ohio got a little less safe dropping from 28 to 30 in the rankings.

The ten most dangerous states are:

1. Nevada
2. New Mexico
3. Louisiana
4. South Carolina
5. Tennessee
6. Florida
7. Delaware
8. Maryland
9. Arizona
10. Arkansas

The most dangerous for specific crimes:

Murder: Louisiana
Rape: Alaska
Robbery: Nevada
Assault: South Carolina

The CQ Press compiled the Crime State Ranking 2010. The rankings compare the fifty states in more than 500 crime-related categories. The FBI, police and many criminologists suggest that crime rankings are too simplistic and caution against and efforts to rank states or cities based on crime rates.

For all rankings: http://os.cqpress.com/rankings/2010/Crime_State_Rankings_2010.pdf