This North Carolina City Has Some of the Worst Homicide Rates in America

North Carolina has some fantastic places to live. It's never good news to hear that one of your favorite places has a high homicide rate, but it's good to be aware of the statistics. As it turns out, one of North Carolina city has one some of the worst homicide rates in America.

The new study comes from Wallethub.com. First, the good news. According to their report, homicide rates have gone down by an average of roughly 5% in 40 of the most populated U.S. cities between Q2 2021 and Q2 2023. That's compared to Q1 2023, where the homicide rate in those cities was 10% higher than Q1 2021. So, things are getting better. For this study, WalletHub.com looked at 40 of the largest U.S. cities based on per capita homicides in Q2 2023, as well as per capita homicides in Q2 2023 vs. Q2 2022 and Q2 2021.

Before we get to our state, let's find the city in America with the highest murder rate. According to the study, the city with the highest homicide problem is Memphis, Tennessee. Also, the city with the highest number of homicides per capita is St. Louis, Missouri. So, at least we aren't on this tally for being No. 1 in either of those statistics.

One North Carolina city is not ranking well for murders. When it comes to the number of homicides per capita, Raleigh is No. 38 in the nation. The city's "total score" is 20.88. Its homicide cases per capita is 0.65. The good news is that no North Carolina cities are in the top 10 on this list, and No. 38 isn't super high up. Also, no South Carolina cities even appear on the tally. Find the full list of the cities with the biggest homicide problems via the WalletHub report here.

Everyone knows of the obvious places where you have to worry about experiencing an earthquake. But sometimes, there are less obvious spots, too. So, what is our currently, calculated risk of an earthquake in North Carolina and South Carolina?

A new study looks at the locations with the highest potential of earthquakes. A lot of them are in major cities. A few include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Memphis. That's according to government research done by FEMA.

In case you were wondering, earthquakes are costly. That's not to shame the states that have the most earthquakes, of course. Hurricanes are costly, too. So, whether you live in California, where earthquakes are likely, or in other areas across America where hurricanes happen, chances are, your area is taking up funding to cover these disasters. As it turns out, southern California coastal counties and the Bay Area are the most costly when it comes to earthquake damage. "Los Angeles County with $2.68 billion in annualized losses is more than three times greater than the second highest county (Santa Clara, California)," the FEMA report states. "The counties containing the Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake, and Memphis metropolitan areas also have relatively high AELs."

North Carolina ranks No. 22 and No. 28, respectively, out of the states for the report's "Ranking of States by Annualized Earthquake Loss and Annualized Earthquake Loss Ratios (AELR)." South Carolina ranks No. 8 and 12, respectively.

Find the interactive map via CNN below and see where your area lands. You might be surprised by some of the areas that actually have a fairly high risk for activity. The map was "derived in part from a US Geological Survey study that created earthquake models to help inform municipalities and insurance companies about such hazards," according to CNN.

While you might think of a handful of cities who are in danger of earthquakes, and those are on the West Coast, there is earthquake activity all around. "Although most economic loss is concentrated along the West Coast, the distribution of relative earthquake risk, as measured by the AELR, is much broader and reinforces the fact that earthquakes are a national problem," FEMA says. "Relatively high earthquake loss ratios are throughout the western and central United States (states within the NMSZ) and in the Charleston, South Carolina, area."

You've heard of the Big Four, right? In metal music. Anyway, the Big 55 are the cities that experience the most earthquake activity. "Fifty-five metropolitan areas, led by the Los Angeles (including Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Anaheim) and San Francisco (including San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley) Bay areas, account for 85% of the total AEL," FEMA says.

The FEMA report states, "Within the central and eastern United States, the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) and the Charleston, South Carolina, area pose substantial earthquake threat." As for safer areas, "The NMSZ covers parts of eight states: Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. Together, they amount to approximately 15% of the total national exposure."

This is an interactive map of the United States showing each area's risk for earthquakes. You might be surprised by some of the areas that actually have a pretty high risk for activity. Click the link below to go to the interactive map via CNN.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/23/us/us-earthquake-risk-map-dg/index.html