Second Worst

Report ranks New Mexico second most violent state in nation

By SFR

The Land of Enchantment is the second most violent state in America, according to an analysis by financial news website 24/7 Wall Street.

The list is based on 2013 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which defines violent crimes as murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.

New Mexico's high ranking comes from a 6.6 percent spike in the state's overall violent crime rate from 2012 to 2013. That put the state average at 597 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Most crime seems to happen in Albuquerque, which boasts a troubling rate of 775 crimes per 100,000 residents, which 24/7 Wall Street reports is twice that of the national average.

The website also correlates the state's violent crime with its high poverty rate, which is also the second-highest in the country at 21.9 percent.

If there's a silver lining here, it's that not as many people are getting killed. New Mexico had 125 murders in 2013, ranking 21st in the country. Aggravated assault, however, happened in the Land of Enchantment more than anywhere else that year, with an average of 450 incidents per 100,000 residents.

As for the nation's most violent state? Alaska takes the crown for having an average of 603 violent crime incidents per 100,000 residents.

Santa Fe Reporter

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