Report: Wilmington Most Dangerous Small City In Country

Camden is well-known as the most dangerous city in the country. And now our sales tax-free haven to the south, Wilmington, Delaware, has been declared the most dangerous small city in the country.

The report was released on Wednesday by real estate site Movoto.com. Here is their list of the 10 most dangerous small cities in the United States:

1. Wilmington, Delaware
2. Canton, Ohio
3. Jackson, Tennessee
4. Rocky Mount, North Carolina
5. North Little Rock, Arkansas
6. Pensacola, Florida
7. Daytona Beach, Florida
8. Lauderhill, Florida (tie)
8. Homestead, Florida (tie)
10. Warner Robbins, Georgia

(Are you sure you want to retire to Florida?)

According to the report, Wilmington has more overall violent crimes based on population than any other small city, with 1,703 per 100,000 residents. For murder and total crime, it ranks third.

To determine the most dangerous small cities in the country, Movoto analyzed the FBI’s 2012 uniform crime report for cities with populations between 50,000 and 75,000, meaning Wilmington just made the cut with 72,000 people. Movoto included murder, rape, robbery, and assault, but also non-violent crimes like burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft.

Looking beyond the top 10, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. isn’t very safe, either. While best known for Dutch Wonderland and shoo-fly pie, Lancaster is the 13th most dangerous small city in the country as per the Movoto report.

And if you’re wondering how Philadelphia is doing with its homicide problem, we’re at 57 murders for 2014. That’s a 39-percent reduction compared to this date in 2007, when the murder epidemic was completely out of control. But — and there’s always a but — we’re up 18 percent over last year at this time, when there were “just” 48 homicides. And then you have people doing stuff like this, too. So there’s that.

PHOTO: Tim Kiser, Creative Commons via Wikipedia.