Los Angeles, we're proud of you. While the city proper only made the top 162 in a ranking of the nation's most-violent municipalities, we knew the region would somehow represent. And that it did.

Compton made the top 10! Yay!

In fact Compton — you know, the city they rap about — made it to number 8 among the nation's most-violent-crime-plagued cities.

[Warning: Explicit lyrics]:

Fortunately for greater L.A., it was the only area city in the top 10 (PDF).

But, as Robert DiNero said in Heat, “There is a flip side to that coin:”

And that flip side (PDF) lies in sometimes idyllic Orange County, our own bridge-and-tunnel community to the south. So stand up and take a bow …

-Mission Viejo! (The fourth safest city in America).

-Lake Forest! (Number 7).

-And Irvine (the former champ comes in at number 10).

These three cities are for real, yo (when it comes to raising families in nice places).

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