Guide Note:Most Dangerous Cities refers to the results of the 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America," which was published and released by CQ Press on Nov 18, 2007. The rankings are loosely based on the FBI's annual Crime in the United States survey. The bureau itself warns that the data should not be used for city-to-city comparisons.

Fast Facts:

1. The report looks at 378 cities with populations of at least 75,000 based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft
2. The results have met with criticism from the US Conference of Mayors, police officials, criminologists and the FBI itself
3. The top ten most dangerous U.S. cities for 2007 were as follows:

1. Detroit, MI
   
2. St. Louis, MO
   
3. Flint, MI
   
4. Oakland, CA
   
5. Camden, NJ
   
6. Birmingham, AL
   
7. North Charleston, SC
   
8. Memphis, TN
   
9. Richmond, CA
   
10. Cleveland, OH