Although research has found that urban youth experience excessive levels of community violence, few studies have focused on the factors that alter the risk of exposure to violence. The current study investigates the relation between neighborhood and violence exposure and between family functioning and risk for exposure to violence in different types of poor, urban neighborhoods. Participants were 249 inner‐city African American and Latino males ages 13–17 and their primary caregivers who participated in the Chicago Youth Development Study. The interaction between family functioning and neighborhood type accounted for increased exposure to violence. The greatest increases occurred among struggling families residing in inner‐city neighborhoods with high levels of social organization. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.