If you are considering a move to the Pittsburgh area, you'll likely want to know about the city's crime rate. Data gathered by the FBI suggests that Pittsburgh's crime rate is creeping upward, following a national trend.
Allegheny County produced an expansive report in 2015 that showed over the previous five years, the homicide rate had increased nationally while slowly increasing in the Pittsburgh area.
However, the rate of gun crimes remains a problem. About 85 percent of all homicides in the Pittsburgh area were committed with a firearm.
About half of the homicides happened in the city of Pittsburgh, where Homewood South had the highest rate of about 147 slayings per 100,000.
In the ensuing years, the opioid crisis has led to a spike in violent crimes, especially armed robberies of stores, banks and gas stations.
Crime rate relatively low among benchmark cities
Even though the crime rate has trended upward, the Pittsburgh crime rate is lower overall than other cities of comparable size in the U.S.
Ranked among a dozen similar American cities, Pittsburgh's overall crime rate is relatively low. In 2016, Pittsburgh ranked second-lowest among a dozen comparable metro areas. Austin, Texas, was ranked first in public safety with 3,913 crimes per 100,000 population while Pittsburgh averaged 4,045 crimes. Pennsylvania sister city Philadelphia was third.
St. Louis ranked first in crimes committed with 7,844 per 100,000, which showed a drop of a few percentage points. But this report included nonviolent crimes, which is not the cause for immediate concern in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.
FBI launches violent crime task force in 2017
The growing number of violent crimes in the Pittsburgh area led the local FBI field office to establish a violent crime task force in the city in 2017. The increase in crime is tied to the growing national opiate epidemic, federal officials said. Crimes like armed robbery of banks, gas stations, convenience stores and retail outlets will be a major focus of the task force.
The FBI will also be looking at kidnappings, murder for hire, carjacking and homicides, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough said. The task force will bring federal funds and material resources to bear in fighting the crime epidemic brought on by the opioid crisis. Pittsburgh is among one of the nation's hardest-hit cities in crimes connected to opioid addiction.
The Northeast and Midwest have seen the highest numbers of overdose deaths and drug-related arrests compared to the rest of the nation. Western Pennsylvania has been particularly affected.
Cox Media Group
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