This was an interesting article with stats, written by Christian Neeser for MY LIFE, is an interesting read worthy to be shared. Neeser also has some interest reports onThe 10 Best Cities for Newlyweds The 10 Best Cities for Child-free Living
The 10 Hardest Working Cities Watch 220 Years of U.S. Population Growth [GIF]
Visualizing Crime in the USA
Have you ever wondered where your state stacks up in terms of crime? We have, so we decided to create a handy map showing which states have more crime and which have less.
But hang on, not all crimes are created equal. A state that was home to an excess of assault charges might be doing quite well when it comes to theft. Therefore, we went and made a bunch of maps showing different data sets, to paint a more accurate picture.
Using data provided by the F.B.I. in their annual Uniform Crime Report, we were able to get every states’ crime stats for 2012, including homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Although this report did not include identity theft, we thought that it definitely warranted a map, so we went digging for this data as well. The F.T.C. provides identity theft stats in their Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, so we used their 2012 edition to match up with the other crime data.
With all these maps, what a great opportunity to have a little more fun with it and create an animation. Here we’ve combined all the crime maps and highlighted the high and low states in each of them. Click below to view the animation full size. Or, keep scrolling to see the maps individually.
Note: Astute viewers will notice that Hawaii is not represented. This particular Uniform Crime Report excluded Hawaii’s stats, so we were forced to as well.
High: Maryland – 19.94 homicides per 100,000 people
Low: Idaho – 0.86 homicides per 100,000 people.
Maryland had a tough time when it came to violent crime. Baltimore, being it’s only heavily populated city, took the brunt of the state’s crimes. It accounted for 59% of Maryland’s total crime, and 89% of its total homicides in 2012.
High: Maryland – 361 robberies per 100,000 people
Low: Wyoming – 13 robberies per 100,000 people
It’s the same story here for Maryland, with Baltimore accounting for 77% of the state’s total robberies.
High: Tennessee – 650 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people
Low: Maine – 67 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people
It seems that tempers run a little shorter in Nashville and Memphis, who account for 58% of Tennessee’s aggravated assault reports, helping the state climb to the top on this one.
High: Arkansas – 1370 burglaries per 100,00 people
Low: New York – 341 burglaries per 100,000 people
There seems to be some regional influence at play here. Perhaps cold weather helps deter burgling. New York took the low spot, though the majority of Northern states can boast similarly low rates of burglary.
High: South Carolina – 3717 larceny/theft reports per 100,000 people
Low: New Jersey – 1351 larceny/theft reports per 100,000 people
South Carolina took the top spot on this one, but it is interesting to see some of the more lightly populated states, such as Montana and New Mexico, start to creep up on the scale.
Note: Here, larceny and theft are grouped together and are, in this case, defined as the unlawful taking of the tangible property of another.
High: Washington – 489 motor vehicle theft reports per 100,000 people
Low: Vermont – 74 motor vehicle theft reports per 100,000 people
The West Coast dominated motor vehicle theft reports, with Washington and California taking the top two spots. With a combined population of 45+ million, these states account for a whole lot of stolen cars.
While all of New England was relatively light, Vermont seems the safest place to be a motor vehicle.
High: Ohio – 43 arson reports per 100,000 people
Low: New York – 5.8 arson reports per 100,000 people
This is the second data set in which New York had the lowest rate of crime.
Ohio had the highest rate of arson by far, with 10 more reports per 100,000 people than second place Michigan.
High: Florida – 361.3 identity theft reports per 100,000 people
Low: South Dakota – 39.6 identity theft reports per 100,000 people
Our hearts go out to Floridians, who, it seems, must be extra vigilant when it comes to protecting their identities. Their rate of identity theft reports nearly doubled that of second place Georgia.
It is plain to see that some states do quite well with certain types of crime, but worse when looking at other types. Some regions also seem to do better with some crimes, while other crimes are as likely to occur regardless of region. Identity theft is one that will likely become more ubiquitous as more people move their information online. How you protect yourself is up to you (and local laws), but we hope these maps and stats have provided some insight and knowledge to arm yourselves with.