The violent crime rate in the United States rose slightly in 2015, from 362 incidents per 100,000 people in 2014 to 373 incidents per 100,000 Americans. Still, the long-term trend of violent crime nationwide has been one of steady improvement. In 1996, there were 637 violent crimes per 100,000 Americans, and the rate has declined nearly every year since. 
 
 Violent crime is a broad category that includes rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and murder. While these crimes have become less and less common nationwide, some metro areas have reported a dramatic spike in violent crime. In Monroe, Louisiana, the violent crime rate increased from 640 reported incidents per 100,000 people in 2011, which was 16th highest at the time, to 1,160 incidents per 100,000 people in 2015 — the highest. Based on figures published by the FBI, these are the metropolitan areas with the greatest increases in the violent crime rate. 
 
 Violent and nonviolent crime rates can move independently from one another, as factors driving up burglary and theft may have little impact on murder and assault. Still, there appears to be some relationship, as the majority of the 15 cities on this list where violent crime soared either reported a similar rise in property crime, or property crime was already a serious problem in the area. While property crime nationwide fell by 11.7% over the past five years, it increased in 11 of the 15 metropolitan areas on this list. 
 
 Click here to see the cities where crime is soaring. 
 
 Large five-year increases in violent crime rates tended to be more common in metro areas that started as relatively safe places. Of the 15 metro areas on this list, nine had violent crime rates below the national rate of 387.1 reported incidents per 100,000 Americans in 2011. Each metro area on this list reported at least a 37% spike in violent crimes since, and now all but two have a higher violent crime rate than the nation as a whole. 
 
 In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., John Roman, senior fellow at the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, explained that violent crime rates go hand in hand with several other socioeconomic measures. Roman explained that violence and poor economic conditions are cyclical and can feed into each other. There is much evidence that in areas without economic opportunities, residents — young men in particular — are more likely to turn to drug dealing and other kinds of crime. 
 
 Roman added that the relationship between economic development and crime is not one-way. Businesses and potential residents are less likely to choose to locate to a high crime neighborhood. “[You] really need to do something about crime and violence before you can see economic growth in a city,” Roman said. 
 
 Perhaps counterintuitively, violence reduction is often not the product of increased policing and crime repression strategies. According to Roman, safe cities such as New York “have introduced hundreds of programs and policies — all of which are designed to improve the community instead of trying to improve the community by suppressing violence.” 
 
 Community improvement is crucial in crime reduction. “Cities with less segregation, with more diverse income growth and economic growth, and more gentrification” are the same cities reporting declines in violence, Roman explained. Meanwhile, economically and racially segregated cities report persistent higher levels of violence. 
 
 Based on figures published by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 15 metropolitan statistical areas where crime rates rose the most from 2011 to 2015, the most recent available year of data. In order to be considered, areas had to retain the same geographic boundaries during the period covered, and they had to retain consistent reporting practices. Additionally, we reviewed annual unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2011 and 2015, as well as unemployment figures from December 2016. We also considered data from the Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey on household income, educational attainment rates, and poverty. 
 
 These are the 15 U.S. cities where violent crime is soaring. ||||| Source: Wikimedia Commons 
 
 15. Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL 
 
 > 5-yr. violent crime rate change: +37.3% 
 
 > 2011 violent crime rate: 509.5 per 100,000 
 
 > 2015 violent crime rate: 699.3 per 100,000 
 
 > Murders in 2015: 10 
 
 The violent crime rate in the Anniston, Alabama metropolitan area rose by 37.3% over the last five years. Violent crime was already a problem in the area five years ago. There were about 510 violent crimes for every 100,000 metro residents in 2011, 43rd highest among metropolitan areas at the time. Anniston’s current rate of nearly 700 violent crimes per 100,000 people is 15th worst among U.S. metro areas. A weak economy can potentially lead to greater crime in an area, and crime can in turn suppress economic growth. Anniston’s current unemployment rate of 6.9% is one of the worst of any U.S. metropolitan area. 
 
 Source: Wikimedia Commons 
 
 14. Alexandria, LA 
 
 > 5-yr. violent crime rate change: +38.1% 
 
 > 2011 violent crime rate: 677.9 per 100,000 
 
 > 2015 violent crime rate: 936.4 per 100,000 
 
 > Murders in 2015: 7 
 
 The violent crime rate in Alexandria was already alarmingly high five years ago, and it has only gotten worse since. There were 678 robberies, murders, rapes, and aggravated assaults in the Louisiana metropolitan area per 100,000 residents in 2011, 11th worst in the nation. The current rate of 936 violent crimes per 100,000 people is fourth worst in the country, and well more than double the national rate. Driving this increase was a significant rise in aggravated assaults in the area, from 813 reported incidents in 2011 to 1,202 in 2015. Controlling for population size, the metro area currently has the third worst aggravated assault rate in the country. 
 
 Source: Thinkstock 
 
 13. Abilene, TX 
 
 > 5-yr. violent crime rate change: +38.7% 
 
 > 2011 violent crime rate: 297.5 per 100,000 
 
 > 2015 violent crime rate: 412.5 per 100,000 
 
 > Murders in 2015: 9 
 
 Just five years ago, Abilene, Texas was considered relatively safe. The violent crime rate in 2011 of 298 incidents per 100,000 metro area residents was lower than the nationwide rate that year of 387 per 100,000 Americans. In just five years, the violent crime rate in the metro area rose to 413 incidents per 100,000 residents, now higher than the national rate of 373 incidents per 100,000 people. 
 
 A high violent crime rate does not necessarily mean the nonviolent crime rate is also high, but metropolitan areas with high rates of one often experience elevated rates of the other. In Abilene, the property crime rate also increased from 3,030 incidents per 100,000 people in 2011 to 3,609 incidents per 100,000 people in 2015. 
 
 Source: Tim Kiser / Wikimedia Commons 
 
 12. St. Joseph, MO-KS 
 
 > 5-yr. violent crime rate change: +39.5% 
 
 > 2011 violent crime rate: 275.4 per 100,000 
 
 > 2015 violent crime rate: 384.3 per 100,000 
 
 > Murders in 2015: 12 
 
 St. Joseph, Missouri is one of the smaller metropolitan areas by population, with 127,400 residents. While most metropolitan areas with populations of less than 150,000 had fewer than four homicides in 2015, St. Joseph had 12, up from only four in 2011. Adjusting for population, St. Joseph’s murder rate is among highest in the country. 
 
 However, as was the case in every city on this list, aggravated assault was the primary driver of increased violence in the area. There were 314 total incidents of aggravated assault in the St. Joseph metro area in 2015, up from 236 half a decade prior. Overall, the violent crime rate in St. Joseph rose by nearly 40% over the last five years. 
 
 11. Houma-Thibodaux, LA 
 
 > 5-yr. violent crime rate change: +41.8% 
 
 > 2011 violent crime rate: 314.6 per 100,000 
 
 > 2015 violent crime rate: 446.1 per 100,000 
 
 > Murders in 2015: 17 
 
 While Houma-Thibodaux had one of the largest five-year spikes in violent crime of any metro area, most of the increase occurred over one year. Between 2014 and 2015, the area’s violent crime rate nearly doubled from 242 incidents per 100,000 residents to 446 per 100,000 today, one of the higher violent crime rates of any city. The number of murders in the metro area nearly tripled over the past five years, rising from six reported murders in 2011 to 17 in 2015. 
 
 Police list several possible reasons for the spike, suggesting a rise in heroin use may be behind the increase in violent crime, but also noting that many of these crimes appeared to be more random, and not necessarily connected to a broader trend.
– You might want to be a bit extra vigilant when visiting these US cities, according to 24/7 Wall St. The site determined the metropolitan areas with the fastest-rising crime based on differences in violent crime rates from 2011 to 2015. Household income, employment, education, and poverty rates were also considered. Here's the top 10: Monroe, La. Missoula, Mont. Sioux Falls, SD San Luis Obispo, Calif. Odessa, Texas El Centro, Calif. Milwaukee, Wis. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa Springfield, Mo. Mansfield, Ohio Click for the full list or see the least safe cities for women.