The top three are in the Northeast.
Safety has become a top concern for many Americans with the surge in violent crime, and the threat of a “tripledemic” this winter (aka the confluence of influenza, COVID-19, and RSV). Luckily, the personal finance website Wallethub did the research and found the safest states across the country.
While nowhere is fully immune to danger, some areas do appear to be safer than others. Leading the way is Vermont, followed by neighboring Maine and New Hampshire. The ranking’s based on 53 different indicators, including foreclosure rates, the share of uninsured drivers, unemployment, and assaults per capita. But the factors that held the most weight were factors like the percentage of residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and the number of mass shootings.
“Although vaccines have greatly diminished [the COVID-19] threat in 2022, there have still been over 204,000 deaths from COVID-19 this year,” the report states.
The researchers then classified these indicators into five subcategories: personal and residential safety, financial safety, road safety, workplace safety, and emergency preparedness. These indicators also revealed states on the other end of the spectrum: Louisiana ranked as the least-safe state, along with Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Alabama following right behind.
This report isn’t the first of its kind: Wallethub released a similar one in April, ranking the safest cities in the U.S. At the top of the list was Columbia, Md. followed by Burlington, Vt. and Nashua, N.H. Meanwhile, Business Insider released its own list and decided to rank cities by salary (these places also boast some of the highest costs of living).
Here’s a breakdown of the safest states in the country.
- Vermont
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Utah
- Hawaii
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Minnesota
- Washington
- Rhode Island
