BARNSTABLE — The town of Barnstable has been placed on a national list that won’t be promoted in tourist or visitor brochures.

The Cape’s largest town ranks 93rd — one spot below Cincinnati — in the Top 100 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities list for 2017, according to data released last week by NeighborhoodScout. The Worcester-based company annually compiles comprehensive violent crime statistics reported to the FBI and 18,000 other law enforcement agencies, including sheriff departments and campus police, from across the country.

- See the complete list of Top 100 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities

“I’m shocked that Barnstable made the list,” Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald said.

The ranking is based on the most recent national crime rate data that became available in November, according to Andrew Schiller, CEO and founder of NeighborhoodScout. The data is from calendar year 2015.

NeighborhoodScout has been compiling the annual lists for nearly a decade. The list is based on the number of violent crimes, such as homicide, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault, arson and burglary, per 1,000 residents. Only cities with 25,000 or more residents are included.

MacDonald on Friday expressed concern that the company’s calculation may not take into consideration that the town’s population of 45,000 can balloon to more than 150,000 in the summer months.

He also noted that the number of crimes classified as violent in Barnstable are on a downward slide from 1,209 in 2015 to 894 in 2016. He would like to see numbers used by NeighborhoodScout for 2015 to see if they “jive.”

“I believe crime is down significantly here, especially for property crimes,” said MacDonald, adding that the decrease can be partly attributed to increased police presence in the community.

On its website, NeighborhoodScout does warn against the skewing of numbers in tourist areas.

“Crime rates can appear higher than you think if you have a lot of tourists (nonpermanent residents) in your community, because the number of crimes (violent, property, or both) is divided by the permanent population, creating a crime rate per 1,000 residents,” the company states. “If you have a lot of visitors, these people can increase the number of crimes, but do not count in establishing the rate because they don't live there, thus increasing the crime rate score per 1,000 residents.”

“Barnstable is one of the safest communities in the commonwealth when permanent population is used,” MacDonald said.

On its website, NeighborhoodScout details crime statistics for what it terms neighborhoods in Barnstable, with Hyannis having the most incidents of violent crime.

“I’m not sure how many people will see this information and associate Barnstable with Hyannis,” said Jessica Sylver, president and CEO of the Greater Hyannis Chamber of Commerce.

Sylver also noted that last year’s HBO documentary "Heroin: Cape Cod USA" did not have an adverse effect on tourism as was originally feared.

Schiller said he has noticed trends in recent years that have caused places like Barnstable to debut on the most dangerous list, while communities closer to major cities with traditionally higher crime rates drop off the list.

“There has been a real push for gentrification near large urban cores,” Schiller said. “So a lot of problems that people have faced with violent crime have become more manifested on areas that are more on the economic periphery.”

The Cape has an economy based on hospitality and tourism, which tend to be lower-wage and lower-skill jobs that don’t provide opportunities for upwardly mobile millennials, according to Schiller. He cited Chelsea as an example of the gentrification. The once gritty city just north of Boston has been dropping steadily on the most dangerous list in the past few years, coming in at No. 58 on the 2017 list.

Other cities in Massachusetts that made the most dangerous list include Brockton, Springfield and Fall River. The most dangerous city in the United States is East St. Louis, Ill.

On the flip side, cities in Massachusetts that made the Top 100 Safest U.S. Cities list for 2017 include North Andover, Walpole, Amherst, Peabody, Melrose, Beverly, Wellesley, Newton, Arlington, Gloucester, Wakefield, Milton, Plymouth, Andover, Billerica, Needham, Belmont, Marshfield, Reading, Lexington and Franklin.

The safest city in the United States, according to NeighborhoodScout data, is Oak Ridge, Tenn.

— Follow Geoff Spillane on Twitter: @GSpillaneCCT