Most dangerous US cities for pedestrians: Where your town ranks

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FILE - Police cordon off the scene after a deadly incident occurred at a bus stop in San Francisco, California, on May 23, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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Pedestrian deaths in the U.S. have increased over the past decade, reaching a 40-year-high in 2022, according to a new report.

In 2022, the most recent year with complete federal data, 7,522 people were struck and killed while walking, the report by nonprofit Smart Growth America states.

The report, called Dangerous by Design 2024, also ranks the most deadly U.S. metro areas – putting Memphis, Tennessee, at the top spot.

"The new #1 most deadly metro area (Memphis, TN) has risen steadily since the first time we ranked metro areas in 2009, with a rate that has nearly tripled from 1.83 up to 5.14 deaths per 100,000 people," the nonprofit said, with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "343 people died from 2018-2022, an increase of 158 deaths compared to the previous five-year period (2013-2017)."

The report added that 65% of all pedestrian deaths in Memphis over the last decade happened in just the last five years.

Top 20 most deadly metro areas for pedestrians

The country’s largest metro areas are "significantly more dangerous" than a decade or more ago, according to the report – and fast-growing metros in the South and the Sunbelt were found to be the most deadly.

"In 2009 there were just eight large metro areas that had a pedestrian fatality rate over 2.0 per 100,000 people," the 2024 report states. "That number more than doubled to 18 metro areas in our 2014 report."

Now, there are 47 metro areas with a rate over 2.0 people killed per 100k people, the report adds. The report also noted how 66% of all traffic deaths within the 101 metros analyzed happened on state-owned roads.

Here are the top 20 most deadly metro areas for pedestrians:

1. Memphis, TN-MS-AR

2. Albuquerque, NM

3. Tucson, AZ

4. Bakersfield, CA

5(t). Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL

5(t). Baton Rouge, LA

7. Fresno, CA

8. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

9. Charleston-North Charleston, SC

10. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

11. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL