9. Rockford, Illinois
> Population: 156,180
> Violent Crime Per 1,000: 14.5
> 2010 Murders: 20
> Median Income: $36,990 (26% below national average)
> Unemployment Rate: 13.3% (4.3% above national average)
Rockford has unusually high violent crime rates for a city of its size.
Most notably, the city has the fourth highest rate of aggravated assault in the country, with 10.5 cases for every 1,000 citizens in 2010.
During the same period, 20 murders occurred, almost double the number in 2000.
Quoted by the Rockford Register Star in 2007, Winnebago County Sheriff package Meyers said that he believed the city’s “location worked against [it,]” as Rockford receives traffic from the drug markets in Madison, Chicago, and Milwaukee, resulting in heightened rates of violence.
