Murder Capitals: 2 Illinois Cities On List

Two Illinois cities have been listed as "Murder Capitals of America" for 2018. In fact, an Illinois city topped the list and is considered more dangerous than Detroit or Baltimore, according to the survey. The list was prepared by NeighborhoodScout, a web-based platform from Location, Inc., and includes 30 cities in America with the highest number of murders per 1,000 residents.

East St. Louis came in at No. 1 on the list, second only to Chester, Pa., and Camden, New Jersey. Rounding out the top 25 is Chicago, a city that's notoriously plagued by gun violence — so much so that it's become a political talking point for many, including President Donald Trump.

NeighborhoodScout compiled its list, which includes cities with a population of 25,000 or more, using crime data from the FBI on number of murders. The data was then compared to the population of each city provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In East St. Louis, a city with about 26,922, there were 27 murders in 2016 (the latest full year for which FBI data is available). That's a murder rate of 1.0 per 1,000 residents. According to NeighborhoodScout, your chance of becoming a victim of violent crime in East St. Louis is 1 in 36, compared with the state average of 1 in 229. Other violent crime stats for East St. Louis:

• Rape: 35
• Robbery: 103
• Assault: 592

Chicago, with 2.7 million residents, had 765 murders in 2016, making the murder rate 0.28 per 1,000 people. Your chance of becoming a violent crime victim is 1 in 90, according to the rankings.Other violent crime stats for 2016 in Chicago:

• Rape: 1,592
• Robbery: 11,970
• Assault: 15,827

The top 25 Murder Capitals of America, according to NeighborhoodScout, include:

1. East St. Louis, IL
2. Chester, PA
3. Camden, NJ
4. St. Louis, MO
5. Gary, IN
6. West Memphis, AR
7. Baltimore, MD
8. Flint, MI
9. Detroit, MI
10. New Orleans, LA
11. Salisbury, NC
12. Danville, VA
13. Wilmington, DE
14. Compton, CA
15. Newark, NJ
16. Cleveland, OH
17. Petersburg, VA
18. Jackson, MS
19. Goldsboro, NC
20. Orlando, FL
21. Memphis, TN
22. North Charleston, SC
23. Elkhart, IN
24. San Bernardino, CA
25. Chicago, IL

Click here to see the full list of NeighborhoodScout's Murder Capitals of America.

With reporting by Kara Seymour, Patch National Staff

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