Here are the preliminary figures on violent crime in the US for the first six months of 2003, according to the National Crime Statistics of the FBI.

Overall, violent crime in the Midwest declined 6.2%, compared to a decline of 4.4% in the Northeast, 3.2% in the South, and 1.1% in the West. Murder declined 1.9% in the Midwest, compared to an increase of 4.3%, 1.8%, and 0.3% in the Northeast, South, and West, respectively.

You still stand a statistically better chance of being murdered or the victim of violent crime in the Northeast than elsewhere in the country.