Report: Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port is 107th most dangerous metro area in U.S.

The Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port region was the 107th most dangerous metropolitan area in the country last year, according to a national study released Sunday. That's up from #109 a year earlier.

The rankings are a result of a formula used by the study's authors to analyze 2009 statistics the FBI compiles for eight categories of crime -- murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port ranked 107th out of 347 metro areas ranked, landing between Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., at No. 105 and Jacksonville, N.C., at 107.

A year earlier, Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port ranked #109, between Bryan-College Station, Texas, at No. 108 and Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 110.

Other findings of the study, conducted by CQ Press:

-- Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port ranked as the 12th most dangerous metro area in Florida in 2009. That's behind Miami-Dade County (16); Jacksonville (43); Gainesville (44); Greater Miami (48); Tallahassee (56); Orlando (59);  West Palm Beach (60); Panama City-Lynn Haven (76); Pensacola (85); Tampa-St. Petersburg (96); and Fort Lauderdale (104).

-- The safest metro area in Florida last year was Port St. Lucie, which ranked No. 186.

-- The most dangerous metro area in the country last year was Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., and the safest was Glens Falls, N.Y.

-- The most dangerous city with a population of more than 75,000 was St. Louis, and the safest was Colonie, N.Y. (Neither Bradenton nor Sarasota were included in the city rankings.)

-- The most dangerous city in Florida was St. Petersburg, which came in at No. 31 nationally; and the safest was Coral Springs, in Broward County, which came in at No. 358 out of 400 cities ranked. (Only cities with populations of more than 75,000 were ranked.)

Some criminologists question the findings, saying the methodology is unfair. Greg Scarbro, unit chief of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, said the FBI also discourages using the data for these types of rankings, according to an Associated Press story.

Read all the rankings here.