In the most dangerous neighborhood in America, you have a one-in-seven chance of being the victim of a violent crime every year. Same goes for the second-most dangerous. You'll fare slightly better in the third-most dangerous, where your chances are one-in-eight. All three of those neighborhoods are located in the city of Detroit.
The rankings come from a report of the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods released this week by NeighborhoodScout.com. Detroit appears one more time on the list, with a neighborhood in the seventh spot. Four Chicago neighborhoods on the list as well, and most of the others are in cities in the South and Midwest. Many are on the smaller side, like Memphis, Tenn. which has two neighborhoods on the list, and Indianapolis, which has one neighborhood ranked as the 20th most dangerous.
(Scroll down to see the list of dangerous neighborhoods.)
NeighborhoodScout used census tracts to define neighborhoods, excluding those with less than 800 residents. They analyzed FBI data tracking violent crimes of homicide, forcible rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault.
Andrew Schiller, Neighborhood Scout's founder, said people's image of the places most affected by violent crime often doesn't match the reality.
"So many people think, well, I live in a medium city so it can't be that bad, not like big cities like New York or Los Angeles," Schiller said. "But those cities aren't that dangerous overall -- of course they have dangerous neighborhoods -- but overall, they aren't nearly as dangerous as places like Indianapolis."
Schiller also noted that in many cases, city centers, which benefit from development, an influx of people and more amenities, experience less crime than outskirts and even inner ring suburbs.
"Oftentimes people have an image of what crime is like in America, … historically it was [in areas with] high-rise urban tenements. We realize now, from studying this data, that's just not true," he said.
Instead, the neighborhoods they found to have the highest incidents of crime had high levels of vacancy and were mostly dominated by single-family homes.
That description matches many neighborhoods in Detroit, where a recent estimate provided by the city marked the number of vacant structures at 35,000, with many more vacant lots.
The city's violent crime rate is more than five times the national average, according to last year's Forbes analysis of 2011 statistics. Though the overall crime rate in Detroit fell by 2.6 percent in 2012, the murder rate rose 9 percent with 411 recorded homicides -- just several fewer than New York, which has 11 times the population.
"When you have such a high violent crime rate as the city of Detroit does, and a receding population, there tends to be more than just one or two [neighborhoods] that are the focus of violent crime," said Schiller. "It wasn't a total surprise."
NeighborhoodScout's report used 2011 population data from the U.S. Census and 2011 crime statistics from the FBI. They also use information from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies in the country; more on their methodology here.
See the 15 most dangerous neighborhoods below, and head to NeighborhoodScout for the rest. Neighborhoods are defined by the census tract and primarily identified in the report by the largest street intersection they contain.
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  • #15 Houston: Sauer St. / Mcgowen St.

    City: Houston Neighborhood: At Sauer St. / Mcgowen St. Zip code: 77004, 77003 Violent crimes per 1,000: 75.89 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 13 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Sauer St. / Mcgowen St. neighborhood here.
  • #14 Rockford, Ill.: Kishwaukee St. / Grove St.

    City: Rockford, Ill. Neighborhood: Kishwaukee St. / Grove St. Zip code: 61104 Violent crimes per 1,000: 77.6 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 13 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Kishwaukee St. / Grove St. neighborhood here.
  • #13 Chicago: S Homan Ave. / W Roosevelt Road

    City: Chicago Neighborhood: S Homan Ave. / W Roosevelt Road Zip code: 60623 Violent crimes per 1,000: 80.17 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 12 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the S Homan Ave. / W Roosevelt Road neighborhood here.
  • #12 St. Louis: Delmar Blvd. / N Euclid Ave.

    City: St. Louis Neighborhood: Delmar Blvd. / N Euclid Ave. Zip code: 63113, 63108 Violent crimes per 1,000: 145.29 Chance of becoming a victim: One in seven Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Delmar Blvd. / N Euclid Ave. neighborhood here.
  • #11 Memphis, Tenn.: E Eh Crump Blvd. / S 4th St.

    City: Memphis, Tenn. Neighborhood: E Eh Crump Blvd. / S 4th St. Zip code: 38126 Violent crimes per 1,000: 82.91 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 12 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the E Eh Crump Blvd. / S 4th St. neighborhood here.
  • #10 Saginaw, Mich.: E Holland Ave. / E Genesee Ave.

    City: Saginaw, Mich. Neighborhood: E Holland Ave. / E Genesee Ave. Zip code: 48601 Violent crimes per 1,000: 85.64 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 12 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the E Holland Ave. / E Genesee Ave. neighborhood here.
  • #9 Atlanta: Hopkins St. SE / Adair Ave. SE

    City: Atlanta Neighborhood: Hopkins St. SE / Adair Ave. SE Zip code: 30315 Violent crimes per 1,000: 86.14 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 12 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Hopkins St. SE / Adair Ave. SE neighborhood here.
  • #8 Greenville, SC: Woodside

    City: Greenville, SC Neighborhood: Woodside Zip code: 29611 Violent crimes per 1,000: 86.38 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 12 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Woodside neighborhood here.
  • #7 Detroit: Wyoming St. / Orangelawn St.

    City: Detroit Neighborhood: Wyoming St. / Orangelawn St. Zip code: 48204 Violent crimes per 1,000: 90.82 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 11 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Wyoming St. / Orangelawn St. neighborhood here.
  • #6 Houston: Scott St. / Wilmington St.

    City: Houston Neighborhood: Scott St. / Wilmington St. Zip code: 77051 Violent crimes per 1,000: 91.27 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 11 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Scott St. / Wilmington St. neighborhood here.
  • #5 Spartanburg, SC: Washington Heights

    City: Spartanburg, SC Neighborhood: Washington Heights Zip code: 29306 Violent crimes per 1,000: 96.55 Chance of becoming a victim: One in 10 Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Washington Heights neighborhood here.
  • #4 Chicago: S Halsted St. / W 77th St.

    City: Chicago Neighborhood: S Halsted St. / W 77th St. Zip code: 60620 Violent crimes per 1,000: 116.56 Chance of becoming a victim: One in nine Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the S Halsted St. / W 77th St. neighborhood here.
  • #3 Detroit: Gratiot Ave. / Rosemary Ave.

    Neighborhood: Mack Ave. / Helen St. Zip code: 48207 Violent crimes per 1,000: 123.93 Chance of becoming a victim: One in eight Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Gratiot Ave. / Rosemary Ave. neighborhood here.
  • #2 Detroit: Mack Ave. / Helen St.

    Neighborhood: Mack Ave. / Helen St. Zip code: 48207 Violent crimes per 1,000: 145.29 Chance of becoming a victim: One in seven According to Neighborhood Scout, 78.5 percent of the residential real estate in this Detroit neighborhood was built in 1939 or earlier, a greater concentration of historic homes than 99.1 percent of neighborhoods nationwide, but there is also a high rate of vacancy. Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the Mack Ave. / Helen St. neighborhood here.
  • Most Dangerous: Detroit's W Chicago / Livernois Ave.

    Neighborhood: W Chicago / Livernois Ave Zip code: 48204 Violent crimes per 1,000: 149.48 Chance of becoming a victim: One in seven In this neighborhood, .9 percent of adults have earned a bachelor's degree, NeighborhoodScout found, a lower rater than 98.7 percent of neighborhoods nationwide. Information provided by NeighborhoodScout. More info on the W Chicago / Livernois Ave. neighborhood here.