When looking at income data, there’s a general correlation that almost always emerges: Places with higher household incomes tend to have lower crime rates. However, this correlation doesn’t hold automatically. Many wealthy cities in the United States — defined for convenience as those with median household incomes of at least $75,000 — suffer from crime rates that are on the higher end of the spectrum, or at least above average.
We sourced Census Bureau data from its 2017 American Community Survey to analyze U.S. cities with at least 20,000 households and a median household income of $75,000 or more in terms of violent crime and property rates per 1,000 residents, according to Neighborhood Scout. Take a look at the wealthiest U.S. cities with the highest crime rates.
Anchorage
1. Median household income: $82,271
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 12.13
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 55.54
San Francisco
1. Median household income: $96,265
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 7.25
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 62.48
Washington, D.C.
1. Median household income: $77,649
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 10.05
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 42.84
Berkeley, California
1. Median household income: $75,709
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 6.21
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 57.00
Seattle
1. Median household income: $79,565
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 6.33
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 54.30
Santa Monica, California
1. Median household income: $86,084
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 7.68
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 47.56
Costa Mesa, California
1. Median household income: $75,109
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 3.20
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 37.82
Concord, California
1. Median household income: $76,500
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 3.64
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 35.45
Fairfield, California
1. Median household income: $75,292
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 4.71
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 28.08
Carson, California
1. Median household income: $75,517
2. Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 5.24
3. Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 24.87
Check out the full list of wealthy cities where crime rates are high>>