UPDATE: A new report released by LawStreetMedia.com that claims the City of Burien is the third “most dangerous” city in the state of Washington is wrong – the city should actually be ranked 11th, according to Capt. Bryan Howard of the Burien Police Department.

The study is based on data from the FBI’s most recent “Uniform Crime Report” from 2012, and cities are ranked based on the rate of violent crime per 100,000 people.

The report mistakenly listed Burien’s population at 34,310, when it actually was 47,000 in 2012, according to Howard.

This means the actual Violent Crime Rate per 100,000 people is 368.75, putting B-Town into 11th place, just ahead of Longview. Burien’s most recent Violent Crime Rate – from 2013 – has actually decreased, to 368.52.

Neighboring city rankings were SeaTac at #8, Kent at #10, Des Moines at #17, and Renton at #19. Unincorporated areas like White Center or Skyway were not included.

This report only included cities with a population greater than 25,000, and left out Tukwila (with 29.673 residents).

Worst-ranked (#1) Tacoma’s violent crime rate was 796.96, while #5 Seattle’s was 597.58.

These crimes include murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.

According to the website, the “average violent crime rate” for a city of this size (population between 25,000 & 49,999 people) – based on the FBI’s population grouping statistics from the Uniform Crime Report – should be 300.

The state of Washington was ranked 30th “most dangerous” in the entire U.S., with the District of Columbia ranked as #1.

“In the summer of 2013, a group of professionals and students came together in Washington and New York to create a site for students, young lawyers, and everyone who’s interested in law and public policy,” reads LawStreetMedia’s About Page.

Here’s the full, corrected list:

 # City   Violent Crime Rate▼ Population  Violent Crime  Murder  Forcible Rape  Robbery  Aggravated Assault 
1 Tacoma 796.96 202646 1615 12 93 486 1024
2 Lakewood 782.62 59416 465 1 39 108 317
3 Spokane 645.26 212163 1369 13 81 537 738
4 Yakima 605.87 93419 566 11 52 152 351
5 Seattle 597.58 626865 3746 23 119 1421 2183
6 Bremerton 583.25 39434 230 1 38 44 147
7 Seatac 559.59 27699 155 1 30 69 55
8 Everett 456.71 105318 481 1 46 182 252
9 Kent 444.71 122102 543 2 68 194 279
10 Longview 421.26 37032 156 1 26 55 74
11 Burien 368.75 47000 267 2 44 95 126
12 Vancouver 355.82 166375 592 5 72 172 343
13 Walla Walla 348.09 32463 113 0 16 18 79
14 Auburn 343.4 72218 248 6 23 110 109
15 Federal Way 321.82 91978 296 3 43 106 144
16 Olympia 314.27 47729 150 5 45 37 63
17 Des Moines 304.37 30555 93 0 2 34 57
18 Pasco 304.05 63806 194 1 13 41 139
19 Renton 301.96 93722 283 2 27 115 139
20 Kennewick 297.51 76971 229 1 33 35 160
21 University Place 270.27 31820 86 0 10 19 57
22 Bellingham 266.13 82665 220 0 29 53 138
23 Puyallup 253.83 37821 96 0 18 36 42
24 Mount Vernon 243.95 32384 79 1 13 21 44
25 Spokane Valley 215 91164 196 1 31 67 97
26 Lynnwood 201.93 36647 74 0 5 36 33
27 Marysville 188.98 61381 116 2 16 36 62
28 Kirkland 183.11 50243 92 0 14 24 54
29 Shoreline 181.41 54574 99 3 23 41 32
30 Lacey 176.85 43540 77 4 6 9 58
31 Richland 163.81 50057 82 0 20 11 51
32 Lake Stevens 163.71 28710 47 0 4 18 25
33 Edmonds 140.36 40609 57 1 4 20 32
34 Bellevue 127.76 126022 161 2 26 67 66
35 Bothell 101.78 34389 35 1 7 8 19
36 Pullman 96.01 30206 29 0 5 3 21
37 Redmond 64.55 55770 36 0 8 11 17
38 Issaquah 57.43 31341 18 0 2 6 10
39 Sammamish 33.93 47158 16 0 7 1 8

Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.

17 replies on “UPDATE: Burien ranked 11th 'Most Dangerous' city in state of Washington”

  1. Bad data. Huge flaw in Burien’s indicated population. It shows the population as 34,000+, when actually it is almost 50,000. Since the data is seemingly based on population, then their conclusions are wrong and Burien would be further down the list.

      1. It looks like the LawStreetMedia.com results did not include the 2010 N Highline Annexation population (14,000 citizens) and crime. You will have to add the N Highline crime data to your calculation.
        Otherwise, the LawStreetMedia.com results are more accurate.

  2. Get rid of all the apartments in Burien and it would drop out of the top 25! Apartment buildings are the new public housing projects. Section 8 renters are killing Burien.

    1. No, what’s killing Burien is the wannabe thugs like you. I suppose you’re going to change your name to George Zimmerman and start taking the law into your own hands? Oh yeah, and if you want to start shooting Section 8 tenants, find me. The violent crime starts with YOU, jackass.

      1. I am tophat topcat…I did not post this comment it was posted by tophatcat not me! Please do not confuse me with this person.

  3. Placing this high on the list is an insult to those of us calling Burien our home, more Police and City enforcement of the laws and rules in place would go a long way towards fixing our standing. Less hugs and more handcuffs would be a big help towards reaching success.

    1. Are you willing to have your taxes increased slightly for that to happen?
      In order to get more law enforcement we would need it.
      I personally, am okay with that.

      1. Yeah they need todo something to keep the criminal minded from driving with a loaded weapon ready to shoot someone because they might have less money than them.
        P.S. I find it rather shocking that nobody is trying to blame the small group of homeless people for this even though they had nothing to do with it. You have to think the fear monger’s of burien would have came up with some connection by now

  4. Did anyone contact Law Street Media and inform them of their flawed data which produced the erroneous ranking of our city?

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