The Detroit News

Violent crime dropped in Detroit last year but the city still ranked as the nation's most violent, according to FBI crime data released Monday.

In 2018, 13,478 violent crimes were reported — murder, rape, assault and robbery — in the city compared with 13,796 in 2017, a 2% drop.

Detroit's rate of 2,008 violent crimes per 100,000 people placed it highest among cities with more than 100,000 residents, followed by Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; and Baltimore.

In 2017, Detroit's violent crime rate was the second highest of the nation's big cities.

DATABASE: Explore a database of crime statistics for Michigan towns, townships and cities

Murders in Detroit were down to 261 last year from 267 the previous year, according to the report. The city's murder rate placed it fifth highest in the nation, below St. Louis; Baltimore; Jackson, Mississippi; and Birmingham, Alabama.

Nationally, violent crime dropped by 3 percent last year.

Detroit police officials were unable to immediately comment on the statistics Monday morning.

In comparison to Detroit, Chicago's violent crime rate is much lower, with 1,006 violent crimes reported last year for every 100,000 residents. Detroit's violent crime rate was 2,056 crimes per 100,000 people in 2017.

Violent crime in Flint decreased by 7% last year to 1,739 crimes, which as a rate ranked it fifth nationally among cities with more than 50,000 residents. Murders in the city were down to 32 last year compared to 37 in 2017, according to the report.