St. Pete Named 1 of Florida's Most Dangerous Towns

Editor's note: This story was written on Aug. 7, 2015, and updated with a link to NeighborhoodScout's 2015 report on May 13, 2016. An update on the NeighborhoodScout website made the previous report link invalid.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- St. Petersburg might be known for its bustling downtown, museums and sun-drenched waterfront, but it’s also home to a fair amount of crime.

That’s the conclusion the folks at NeighborhoodScout came to when putting together their list of America’s Top 100 most dangerous towns. On the danger scale, St. Pete comes in near the end of the list, ranking 91st in the country, the website noted. Nearby Tampa, Clearwater and Sarasota didn’t earn the dubious honors of a ranking.

To arrive at its findings, NeighborhoodScout looked at the number of violent crimes reported to the FBI within cities that have populations of 25,000 or more. The rankings are based on the number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

“What makes NeighborhoodScout’s analysis more comprehensive than others is the fact that we take into account all 17,000 law enforcement agencies in America for each city with a population more than 25,000,” the website explained. “Many cities across the country are served by more than one agency: they include municipal police, county sheriff, transit police, university or campus police, public school police, park and port police, tribal police, and more.”

St. Pete’s ranking places it at No. 10 in the state. Other cities that made the most dangerous list include Miami, Lake Worth and Daytona Beach. Homestead ranked No. 1 in Florida while Camden, N.J., took first-place in the national listing.

Check out NeighborhoodScout’s full report online.

Florida was ranked as America’s eighth most dangerous state last year, according to a report from Law Street.