<p>YAKIMA -- Only 39 metropolitan areas in the United States had a worse crime rate than Yakima in 2007, according to an annual ranking released Monday.<br /><br />The city&rsquo;s crime rate, based on FBI crime statistics, ranked Yakima 299th out of 338 metro areas, according to wire service reports.<br /><br />Wenatchee ranked first among cities in the state for the lowest crime rate and was 71st nationally.<br /><br />The report was released by CQ Press, a firm that publishes journals, books and electronic media for academic, educational and professional markets, a wire service report said.<br /><br />The crime rate was calculated using six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. Those categories have been used since 1999 to rate crime in all U.S. cities with at least 75,000 residents, the wire report said.<br /><br />After Wenatchee, other Washington cities ranked that had crime rates below the national average included Tri-Cities, 91st; Bellingham, 108th; Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 138th; and Bremerton-Silverdate, 174th.<br /><br />Washington cities above the national average included Spokane, 194th; Seattle-Bellevue, 217th; and Longview, 221st.<br /><br /><em>-- David Lester</em></p> YAKIMA -- Only 39 metropolitan areas in the United States had a worse crime rate than Yakima in 2007, according to an annual ranking released Monday. WEB, LOCAL 2008-11-25T16:39:15Z false 2008-11-26T16:39:16Z Yakima sinks to 299th in crime rankings 9560 yakima-sinks-to-299th-in-crime-rankings Web Story Yakima Herald-Republic 2008-11-25T16:39:00Z $n$ Yakima sinks to 299th in crime rankings published WEB Edited 2008-11-26T00:10:26Z 6