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New rankings released today by CQ Press reveal which of America's cities are the most and least dangerous. Of the over 400 cities evaluated, only three area cities show up in the first 50 most dangerous cities: Compton (#8), San Bernardino (#34) and Inglewood (#44). Los Angeles came in at #158 on the list. Other area cities in the top half of the most dangerous are South Gate (#81), Hawthorne (#121), Long Beach (#138), Lancaster (#164), Norwalk (#170), Downey (#187), Santa Ana (#196), El Monte (#198) and Palmdale (#200).
"The crime rankings are calculated using six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft," explains CBS2. "The rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in the six categories for calendar year 2009."
It's not all bad news in SoCal, though. Several local cities are among the safest in the nation, like Mission Viejo (#4), Lake Forest (#7), and Irvine (#10). Other top-ranking safe spots include Simi Valley (#16), Thousand Oaks (#18), Orange (#17), Newport Beach (#31), Glendale (#34), Huntington Beach (#39), and Temecula (#47). See? you don't have to move too far out of Los Angeles County to avoid being raped, robbed, or killed.
