Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York

> City violent crime rate: 401.8 per 100,000
> State violent crime rate: 379.7 per 100,000 (23rd highest)
> City poverty rate: 15.7%
> City unemployment rate: 4.8%

While the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls metro area was once a major manufacturing center and industrial hub, years economic decline have left the city with the highest violent crime rate in New York. There were roughly 400 violent crimes reported per 100,000 Buffalo residents in 2015, more than twice the rate in several other upstate metro areas, such as Glens Falls and Kingston.

In recent years, however, Buffalo has shown signs of a major economic turnaround. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has committed more than $1.5 billion in funding for economic development projects in the metro area as part of his “Buffalo Billion” initiative, which has attracted additional investments from solar energy, information technology, and biomedical companies. Since the revitalization project began in 2012, Buffalo’s violent crime rate has fallen by more than 10%.