These are findings from WalletHub which conducted an in-depth analysis of 2015’s Cities with the Best & Worst ROI on Police Spending
To assess how efficiently the 110 most populated U.S. cities spend taxpayer dollars on police protection, WalletHub calculated each city’s ROI on police spending based on crime rates and per-capita expenditures on police forces after normalizing the data by poverty rate, unemployment rate and median household income. It is important to underline the fact that efficiency is different from overall safety.
Cities with the Best ROI on Police Spending |
Cities with the Worst ROI on Police Spending |
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1 |
Flint, MI |
101 |
New York, NY |
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2 |
Jackson, MS |
102 |
Anchorage, AK |
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3 |
El Paso, TX |
103 |
Long Beach, CA |
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4 |
Springfield, MA |
104 |
St. Louis, MO |
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5 |
Louisville, KY |
105 |
San Francisco, CA |
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6 |
Kansas City, KS |
106 |
Huntington Beach, CA |
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7 |
Lexington, KY |
107 |
Fremont, CA |
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8 |
Buffalo, NY |
108 |
Orlando, FL |
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9 |
Lincoln, NE |
109 |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
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10 |
Syracuse, NY |
110 |
Washington, DC |
Key Stats
$1· Police spending per capita is six times higher in Washington than in Louisville, Ky.
$1· The poverty rate is seven times higher in Flint, Mich., than in Fremont, Calif.
$1· The median household income is four times higher in Fremont, Calif., than in Flint, Mich.
$1· The unemployment rate is five times higher in Detroit than in Virginia Beach, Va.
$1· The crime rate is 11 times higher in Birmingham, Ala., than in Providence, R.I.