A recent ranking of the highest murder rates in New York have four Hudson Valley communities in the top 10 and one topping the entire list with the highest murder rate in the state.

It's not a list you want to be on, but four communities in our area have some of the highest rates of murder in the state. New York Upstate recently crunched the latest FBI data to compile a list of the cities and towns with the highest murder rates. The numbers come from 2016 data recently released by the FBI, and is based on the percentage of murders per 100,000 residents.

According to their numbers, four towns in our area have some of the highest murder rates in New York. Poughkeepsie ranked 9th on the list with three murders reported in 2016. This averages out to 10 murders per 100,000 people, just making the top 10 list.

Surprisingly, Saugerties was just a hair above Poughkeepsie with two murders reported in 2016. Because their population is just about 19,000 people, this puts Saugerties way up on the list of towns with a high murder rate.

The City of Newburgh came in third, with six murders reported in 2016. Along with 403 violent crimes and a population of just about 28,000 people, the City of Newburgh is very high on the list, averaging 21 murders per 100,000 people.

But it was Monticello that ranked first with the highest rate of murder in all of New York. Because the Sullivan County town's population is just 6,438 people, the two murders that happened in 2016 has made Monticello's crime rate soar, pushing it to the top of the list for New York.

The FBI cautions that these rankings are merely statistics that don't really tell the whole story about the safety of a community. There are many factors, including population size differences, that should be taken into account when deciding just how "dangerous" any community is.

But, it's still probably not a great sign that four of the top 10 highest murder rates happen to be right here in our backyard.

What do you think about these statistics? Do you think the Hudson Valley is a safe place to live? Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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