Murder Capitals Of America: Baltimore On The List

BALTIMORE, MD — This is not a list you really want to be on, but Baltimore is. Charm City has been listed as one of the "Murder Capitals of America" for 2018.

In fact, Baltimore came in at No. 7.

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.

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 Baltimore, a city with a population of 614,664, there were 318 murders in 2016 (the latest full year for which FBI data is available). That's a murder rate of 0.52 per 1,000 residents. In 2017, there were 343 murders, based on preliminary data, meaning the rate could inch up even higher.

The city listed as the murder capital of America — East St. Louis, Illinois — has a murder rate of 1.0 per 1,000 residents; the southern Illinois city with a population of 26,922 recorded 27 murders in 2016, based on the analysis.

Despite Baltimore's violent 2017 and 11 murders in the first 12 days of the year, many in the city celebrated a milestone: More than one week without a murder. That came to an end on Tuesday, Feb. 13, when a man was found shot in the chest in the 3800 block of Elmley Avenue in northeast Baltimore at 1:15 p.m. Police said the 22-year-old victim was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 1:45 p.m.

RELATED: Homicide Rate In Baltimore Sets Record In 2017

These are the top 10 Murder Capitals of America, according to NeighborhoodScout:

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

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

— By Kara Seymour and Elizabeth Janney

Photo by Elizabeth Janney