According to the 2023 Safest States in America report by WalletHub, Vermont has been declared the safest state in the U.S. while Louisiana ranks as the most dangerous.
This is the third consecutive year Vermont has taken top honors in WalletHub’s Safest States rankings.
Overall, Vermont scored 68.27, about 2.5 points higher than Maine (65.85), which finished second in the 2023 rankings. New Hampshire, Utah and Massachusetts round out this year’s top five safest states.
The annual rankings look at 52 key metrics grouped into five major categories: personal and residential safety; financial safety; road safety; workplace safety; and emergency preparedness.
Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of safety.
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Connecticut ranked highest in personal and residential safety on this year’s list, while Utah topped the rankings in financial safety, New Hampshire topped the list for road safety, Vermont led the way in workplace safety and Alaska earned top honors for its emergency preparedness.
“With every new headline about a mass shooting, terrorist attack, hate crime or natural disaster, many of us fear for our safety and that of our loved ones,” the WalletHub report says.
“Recent concerns like the COVID-19 pandemic may have cooled off, but they’ve been replaced with things like elevated homicide rates and severe weather.
“Americans have to worry about their financial safety as well, as the government continues to work on slowing down inflation,” the report says.
This Year’s Most Dangerous States
Louisiana ranked 50th on this year’s list at 32.99 overall, about two points lower than Mississippi (34.86). Arkansas, Texas and Florida are the other three states at the bottom of this year’s list. Arkansas also made an appearance in a separate ranking conducted by Fence Gnome looking at the most vulnerable cities for burglaries.
This year is the third straight year Louisiana has ranked at the bottom of this list.
Alabama escaped the indignity of being in this year’s bottom five, dropping Florida into the group. The other four states at the bottom of the list remained unchanged from 2022.
Colorado ranked lowest in personal and residential safety this year, while Mississippi had the lowest score for financial safety, road safety and emergency preparedness and North Dakota’s workplace safety ranking was this year’s worst.
While safety can encompass a wide variety of concepts in society, most CE pros are likely focusing on residential safety with most of their clients, with burglaries and home break-ins being top of mind concerns for many. Earlier in May, smart home company Vivint looked at the most prominent time for burglaries to occur, while popular security brand ADT analyzed where thieves like to strike the most.
Craig MacCormack is a veteran journalist who joined Security Sales & Integration in June 2023 as web editor. He covered AV, IT and security with SSI’s sister publication, Commercial Integrator, from January 2011 to June 2021.
Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister site Security Sales & Integration.
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FAQs
Safest States in the US
- Vermont. Vermont was the safest state in the US in 2022, with a total score of 69.49. ...
- Maine. With a score of 66.24, Maine was 2022's second-safest U.S. state. ...
- Minnesota. ...
- Connecticut. ...
- Massachusetts. ...
- Rhode Island. ...
- Washington. ...
- Maryland.
New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado and Arkansas joined Washington as the top five most dangerous states, according to the company. On the other end of the spectrum, New Hampshire, Maine, Idaho, Rhode Island and Connecticut were ranked as the safest in the country. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc.
Where does Washington rank in the most dangerous states in the country? ›
Washington made the list at No. 5, with 376 violent crimes and 3,356 property crimes for every 100,000 residents. It was also just named the eighth-best state in U.S. News and World Report's overall rankings.
Is Oregon Washington listed among nation's top 10 most dangerous states according to report? ›
A new report shows Oregon is one of the top ten most dangerous states, based on violent crime and property crime. In the first quarter of 2022, Portland Police say there were 483 shootings and 34 homicides.
What state is #1 in crime? ›
1. Alaska. The most dangerous state in the US is Alaska, having the highest combined violent and property crime rate out of any state. Out of a population of 736,081, Alaska's crime rate was 32.14 per 1,000 people in 2022, making it the state with the highest crime rate.
What is the safest state to live in 2024? ›
Here are the US News 2024 rankings of the best states
- Utah.
- New Hampshire.
- Nebraska.
- Minnesota.
- Idaho.
- Iowa.
- Vermont.
- Washington.
The safest state in the U.S., according to the U.S. News methodology, is New Hampshire. With a violent crime rate of 126 per 100,000 and a property crime rate of 1,011 per 100,000, New Hampshire enjoys a high rate of public safety. At number two is Maine, followed by Idaho at number three.
What is the best state to live in? ›
For the second year in a row, Utah was named the best state in the nation, according to the 2024 rankings from U.S. News & World Report. It ranked second in America for education, third for its economy and infrastructure, and sixth for its fiscal stability.
What city has the most murders? ›
Cities with Most Murders
| Rank | Region | Murder Rate (per 100k people) |
|---|
| 1. | St. Louis, MO | 69.4 |
| 2. | Baltimore, MD | 51.1 |
| 3. | New Orleans, LA | 40.6 |
| 4. | Detroit, MI | 39.7 |
16 more rowsAll 50 states and the District of Columbia were examined on economic activity, economic health and innovation potential across 28 metrics, determining Washington to have the strongest economy.
The United States ranks at 129th with a score of 2.44, marking the country's score "low." Just above the U.S. is Azerbaijan, and just below is Brazil.
What is Washington's area rank? ›
What's the largest U.S. state by area?
| U.S. state | total square miles | total square km |
|---|
| 18. Washington | 71,298 | 184,661 |
| 19. North Dakota | 70,698 | 183,108 |
| 20. Oklahoma | 69,899 | 181,037 |
| 21. Missouri | 69,707 | 180,540 |
47 more rowsMay 28, 2024
These are the 10 most dangerous states in the U.S.:
- New Mexico.
- Louisiana.
- Colorado.
- Arkansas.
- Washington.
- Tennessee.
- Alaska.
- Oregon.
Property crime rose for the second time since 2012 from 28.2 incidents per 1,000 last year to 30.3—giving Oregon the fourth-highest property crime rate in the US. Compared to the national average, Oregon has a higher violent crime rate (US 4.0) and a higher property crime rate (US 20.7).
Does Oregon have a low crime rate? ›
West Linn boasts some of the lowest property crimes in Oregon, not to mention the very low violent crime rates. For perspective, the state's average violent crime rate is 3.6 per 1,000 residents (almost four times higher).
What is the most peaceful state in the United States? ›
– Maine is the most peaceful state in the U.S. for the 11th year in a row, Louisiana is the least peaceful. The Northeast continues to be the most peaceful region with three of the five most peaceful states. The South is once again the least peaceful region in America, with four of the five least peaceful states.
What is the lowest rated state? ›
U.S. & World News ranks Louisiana the worst state in the nation, as it has every year since 2017. Low performance across all metrics, especially crime and education concerns. Both crime and criminal justice are concerns in Louisiana.
Which states have the highest property crime? ›
In 2022, the property crime rate in the District of Columbia was 3,561.5 reported property crimes per 100,000 residents. Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon rounded out the top five states with the highest rates of property crime in that year.
What is the safest place in the world? ›
Profiles of the World's 10 Safest Countries
- Iceland. According to the Global Peace Index, Iceland is the safest country in the world for the 14th year in a row. ...
- New Zealand. New Zealand is the second-safest country in the world. ...
- Ireland. ...
- Denmark. ...
- Austria. ...
- Portugal. ...
- Slovenia. ...
- Czech Republic.
