A new report from WalletHub has revealed the safest states in the U.S. — along with the most dangerous.
According to the report, researchers used several different factors to determine which areas were the safest:
- Personal & Residential Safety (40%)
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- Includes presence of terror attacks, number of mass shootings, rapes, assaults, thefts, sex offenders, drug abuse, suicide and overdose deaths, among others
- Financial Safety (15%)
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- Includes unemployment rate, foreclosures, poverty, debt per income, median credit score, fraud complaints, job security and uninsured populations, among others
- Road Safety (15%)
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- Includes DUIs, traffic indiscipline, road quality, driving laws, and fatal crashes, among others
- Workplace Safety (15%)
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- Includes fatal workplace injuries, injuries/illnesses per 10,000 full-time workers, median days lost due to occupational injures/illnesses, and presence of Occupational Safety & Health Act plans
- Emergency Preparedness (15%)
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- Includes number of climate disasters causing over $1 billion in damages, as well as loss amount from these disasters between 1980 and 2024
“The safest states in America protect their residents from harm in a multitude of different ways, from keeping crime rates low and maintaining safe roadways to having strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said.
Overall, Vermont (No. 1), Massachusetts (No. 2), and Maine (No. 3) took the top three spots on the list, each being credited for their strong personal safety measures and emergency preparedness.
But on the opposite side of the spectrum, Florida came in at No. 47 — just a few spots down from the bottom.
The report shows that Florida had a middling score when it came to personal and residential safety, though it nearly bottomed out in pretty much every other category.
Meanwhile, the full ranking is as follows:
| Rank | State | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 66.63 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 66.58 |
| 3 | Maine | 65.93 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 65.16 |
| 5 | Connecticut | 63.40 |
| 6 | Utah | 62.73 |
| 7 | Minnesota | 61.77 |
| 8 | Indiana | 60.83 |
| 9 | Rhode Island | 60.19 |
| 10 | Hawaii | 59.97 |
| 11 | Wyoming | 59.69 |
| 12 | Virginia | 58.36 |
| 13 | Washington | 57.55 |
| 14 | Arizona | 57.43 |
| 15 | Iowa | 57.40 |
| 16 | Maryland | 56.98 |
| 17 | New Jersey | 56.42 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 56.36 |
| 19 | Idaho | 56.10 |
| 20 | New York | 55.44 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 55.03 |
| 22 | North Carolina | 54.75 |
| 23 | Delaware | 53.61 |
| 24 | Oregon | 53.55 |
| 25 | Michigan | 53.34 |
| 26 | North Dakota | 52.91 |
| 27 | Alaska | 52.26 |
| 28 | Nebraska | 52.02 |
| 29 | Ohio | 51.68 |
| 30 | New Mexico | 51.41 |
| 31 | Nevada | 51.07 |
| 32 | Pennsylvania | 50.90 |
| 33 | West Virginia | 50.70 |
| 34 | South Dakota | 50.32 |
| 35 | Kansas | 49.81 |
| 36 | South Carolina | 49.45 |
| 37 | Tennessee | 49.40 |
| 38 | Illinois | 49.25 |
| 39 | California | 49.18 |
| 40 | Montana | 47.66 |
| 41 | Georgia | 45.30 |
| 42 | Alabama | 44.91 |
| 43 | Colorado | 44.38 |
| 44 | Missouri | 44.33 |
| 45 | Oklahoma | 43.06 |
| 46 | Arkansas | 42.87 |
| 47 | Florida | 40.06 |
| 48 | Texas | 39.83 |
| 49 | Louisiana | 37.39 |
| 50 | Mississippi | 34.59 |