Yikes! Now Wall Street is picking  on Rockford. We don't need this, do we?

Rockford certain gets it share of bad news when it comes to crime and economics as it relates to local news coverage, but now we are getting picked on by 24/7 Wall Street.

The financial news and opinion website has released it's annual list of the 50 Worst American cities to live in. On Friday, the publication cited Rockford as the 16th worst city, mainly because of crime.

In the study, Rockford actually has inexpensive property costs, but that is not good a good thing.

The typical home is worth just $87,200, less than half the national median home value of $194,500. While affordable housing can be positive for residents looking to buy a home, it is often indicative of economic and social difficulties. For example, some 8.3% of the city’s workforce is out of a job, and 22.4% of area residents live below the poverty line — each among the higher shares in the U.S.

 

Like many of the cities on this list, Rockford also struggles with crime. The northern Illinois city’s annual violent crime rate of 1,585 incidents for every 100,000 residents is over four times the national violent crime rate and ranks among the 10 worst out of the 551 cities considered.

Wow,talk about a bad report card.  But there is actually good news. Last year Rockford ranked in the Top 10 in this report. Heading down is actually a good thing when it comes to this list.

Here are the TOP 5 Worst Cities

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. Flint, Michigan
4. St. Louis, Missouri
5. Memphis, Tennessee

Catch Mark Charvat on Q98.5 from 3 p.m to 7 p.m.. Follow him on Twitter, and Facebook

 

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