Rockford Tops a List We'd Rather Not Be On

We see lists of cities all the time. Largest, smallest, fastest-growing, best nightlife, best food, most attractions, highest median home price, affordability, you name it. Unfortunately, Rockford generally makes a poor showing on those "best" lists, and ranks right up near the top in the "worst" lists.

One of the very worst lists a city can find itself on is the "Most Dangerous Cities" list, but here we Rockfordians are; at the very top (at least for cities with a population of 100,000-200,000 people). According to Law Street Media's annual "Crime in America" rankings:

Rockford edged out Little Rock, Ark., for the No. 1 spot after experiencing a 28 percent increase in violent crime from 2014-2015. The rankings were determined using 2015 crime statistics reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program by local law enforcement agencies from around the country. Violent crime includes four types of offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Not the kind of information that makes you want to run around and shout "We're number one! We're number one!" Here's more on Rockford from Law Street Media:

Rockford’s murder rate only increased slightly, from 11 per 100,000 people in 2014 to 13 per 100,000 people in 2015. The most dramatic jumps came from increases in the
numbers of robbery and aggravated assault, rising by 22 percent and 30 percent respectively.
Violent Crime Rate: 1,585/100,000 people
Murder Rate: 13/100,000 people
Population: 148,178
Officer to Population Ratio: 1:529
Rank Last Year: #2

Here's a look at the top ten most dangerous cities in America with a population of between 100,000 and 200,000 people: