Rockford Named One Of ‘Worst American Cities To Live In’

Bad news released today, touting Rockford as one of the worst cities to live in the U.S.

In a new report from 247wallst.com, Rockford ranked as the 16th worst citing, "8.3% of the city’s workforce is out of a job" as one of the main reasons.

Others such as the "22.4% of areas residents" living "below the poverty line" mentioning that unemployment and poverty levels "are "each among the higher shares in the U.S."

However, the most damning part of the report has to do with a closer look at violent crime in Rockford. Wallst247 says Rockford's "violent crime rate of 1,585 incidents for every 100,000 residents is over four times the national violent crime rate." All told, that makes Rockford the 10th most violent city in the country.

Rockford's 2016 murder rate was the highest in 20 years, "the highest since 1996" says WREX-TV, and ranked "among the 10 worst out of 551 cities."

Detroit, Michigan was ranked as the worst city to live in America.

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Sweet Lenny is the brand manager of 97ZOK and Operations Manager for Townsquare Media Rockford. Catch him afternoons 3 to 7 on 97ZOK. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and like his page on Facebook.