Special Report

Milwaukee, WI Is Among the Most Dangerous US Metro Areas

Samuel Stebbins

Published: November 8, 2021 12:01 pm

Last Updated: November 9, 2021 8:40 am

The U.S. violent crime rate — an annual, population-adjusted measure of cases of rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and homicide — climbed by 5% in 2020. The increase was driven by a rise in aggravated assault and, most notably, a historic 29% surge in homicides that made 2020 the deadliest year in the United States since the mid-1990s.

Despite the largest single-year increase in homicides on record, the overall violent crime rate in 2020 remains relatively low by historical standards. There were 1.3 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. in 2020, or 399 for every 100,000 people. For context, the violent crime rate ranged between 523 and 758 incidents per 100,000 throughout the 1990s.

Of course, crime is a local phenomenon influenced by a wide range of factors. As a result, violent crime rates in the U.S. can vary considerably from place to place — and in some metro areas, rates of violence far exceed the nation-level highs recorded in decades past.

Milwaukee-Waukesha is the only metro area in Wisconsin to rank among the 50 most dangerous U.S. cities. After jumping 17.4% year over year, the violent crime rate in the metro area stands at 678 incidents for every 100,000 people — higher than in the vast majority of U.S. metro areas. The increase was led by an 86% surge in homicides, from 111 in 2019 to 206 in 2020.

The majority of homicides in Milwaukee proper in 2020 were committed in an area that, due to redlining and other racist housing policies, is both poor and predominantly Black. Some local officials connect the rising violence in the area to an influx of firearms and increased tensions between police and the communities they serve.

Metro areas are ranked on their violent crime rate using data from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report. Additional data on specific crimes are also from the 2020 FBI UCR. Poverty rates are one-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.