America’s Safest Cities in Missouri Near the ‘Murder Capital’?

I demand a recount. Oh, wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. There's a new safest cities list that includes two Missouri places. That's the good news. The unbelievable part is that they are located near the 'murder capital' of America and I have so many questions.

This is an interesting new ranking from Stacker seems to be based on new data from Money Geek. It's a look at the "safest and most affordable cities in the US". I wanted to quote them exactly so you know I'm not taking their words out of context. Look at the map they shared and pay attention to the two dots in Missouri.

Those dots represent O'Fallon and St. Charles, Missouri which have 2 things in common: #1 they are allegedly two of the top 15 safest and most affordable cities in America. #2 they are practically in the backyard of the 'murder capital of America' (aka St. Louis). For the record, I don't buy-in to the 'murder capital' narrative about St. Louis either.

The study says it's based on "Census Bureau's one-year American Community Survey and MIT's Living Wage Calculator" which are both fair ways to assess a community to me.

Now, let's get to the questions. I have to wonder out loud if this isn't an example that just about anyone can create a narrative based on one specific set of data. Is it fair for me to ask if the 'murder capital' articles don't also select one set of data that serves their story and eliminates the positive things that might disprove it? I believe that's fair to ask. .

I'll accept this for what it is (right now) which is a nice pat on the back for two Missouri communities who are apparently doing something right. Let's hope St. Louis gets fair treatment next time it's written about also.