Map Reveals America’s Safest Cities

From natural disasters to violent crimes, threats to our safety come from many different angles. However, some cities are less prone to these risks than others.
In a new study from personal loan comparison tool, WalletHub, researchers compared more than 180 cities across the U.S. against 41 key safety metrics to determine the 10 safest cities in the country.
“High-ranking cities generally show signs of improvement because of community policing initiatives, economic development, and effective crime prevention programs, which foster trust and create opportunities for residents,” Chip Lupo, writer and analyst for WalletHub, told Newsweek. “On the other hand, economic disparities, rising drug abuse, and social disintegration tend to lead to higher crime rates among the cities at the very bottom of the rankings.”
The metrics assessed in this study included measures of home and community safety, like mass shootings, murders, assaults, thefts, drug poisoning, and traffic fatalities; natural disaster risk, including earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfire risks; and financial security, including underemployment rates, poverty, insurance, and fraud.
According to this analysis, the 10 safest cities in the U.S. are as follows:
You can see the 25 safest cities in the map below:
“The results are encouraging, as several cities are showing initiative in terms of their residents’ safety,” Lupo said. “Our study has shown marked improvements among the top 10 cities, most notably South Burlington, VT, which went from 3rd to 1st, or Casper, WY, which rose all the way from 7th to 2nd, in one year.”
At the other end of the scale, the following were ranked as the 10 most dangerous cities in the U.S., according to the analysis:
So, what might be driving these disparities?
“Economic disparities, rising drug abuse, and social disintegration tend to lead to higher crime rates among the cities at the very bottom of the rankings,” Lupo said.
However, he added that improving safety nationwide is a complex task. “A good start would be for local policymakers to advocate for increased investment in underserved communities through job creation, upgrades in infrastructure, and improving education, all of which can help level disparities and support the community’s at-risk population,” he said.
“In addition, reforming policing practices with an emphasis on transparency and strengthening community relations can also go a long way implemented properly.”
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