New Orleans Is Murder Capital Of The United States

New Orleans may have reduced the number of violent crimes by 17 percent last year but they still hold the title of the most murderous United States city.

When figuring the stats for murders per capita New Orleans came to the top regardless of what model was used. The FBI report used 281,440 as the population figure in their calculations of New Orleans for July 1, 2008. The figure has been raised by the Census Bureau to 311,853. The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center says that the city's population for the first half of 2008 was at 324,357. Depending on which figure is being used New Orleans has 57 or 64 murders per 100,000 people. This year there have already been 80 murders in New Orleans. The second highest rate of murders was St. Louis with about 47 murders per 100,000 people.