I'm not shocked at all. I was born and raised in Chicago, in the city, and now I've lived in St. Louis almost as long.
In St. Louis COUNTY, that is, not St. Louis CITY, and therein lies the reason for St. Louis being atop the list. Most of St. Louis's population has moved out of the city and into the county. The population that is left in the city thus has a much higher concentration of crime, especially on the north side. There are still many safe neighborhoods in St. Louis, you just have to know where they are. BTW, Ferguson does not factor into the city statistics, since it is located in the county.
Chicago does not rate as high in crime because of its vastly higher population, thus the percentage of crime per capita is lower.
Son and DIL live in Clayton while attending grad school Nice place but don’t stray too far outside the area.....