This is just suburban paranoia. Crime happens.
Top violent crime rate per capita US cities [1]:
1. St. Louis 2. Detroit 3. Baltimore 4. Memphis 5. Kansas City
If we include all crime and not just violent crime, it’s still all large cities at the top. Not sure where you’re getting your info.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities...
From personal experience, I did not feel particularly safe in Paris when visiting (compared to e.g. Berlin).
Moreover, Paris has several neighborhoods and suburbs that are very unsafe and most people avoid going there. One could say Tenderloin in SF has a similar reputation, but it's very small and easy to avoid.
I would personally care way more about the crime density like per mile or something because that is what would actually be affecting me. Like how many crimes would happen in close proximity to me that could put me in potential danger.
I couldn't care less about the crime per population.
Add to that other factors like the size of the CA economy (wealth attracts crime), a lax criminal system, attractive social services (compared to the rest of the US), etc etc. It's an apples to oranges comparison.
