Detroit ? Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation’s most dangerous city, according to a private research group’s analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The 14th annual “City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America” was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI’s Sept. 24 crime statistics report.

It was compiled by Kathleen O’Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press, based in Lawrence, Kan., published it until its acquisition by CQ Press.

The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year’s crime leader, St. Louis, fell to No. 2. Other most dangerous cities were Flint, Mich.; Oakland, Calif.; Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond, Calif.; and Cleveland.

The study ranked Mission Viejo, Calif., as the safest U.S. city, followed by Clarkstown, N.Y.; Brick Township, N.J.; Amherst, N.Y.; and Sugar Land, Texas.

The study excluded Chicago, Minneapolis, and other Illinois and Minnesota cities because of incomplete data.