With over 11,000 Americans having died from gun violence this year and the country suffering $27 billion in climate disaster damage in 2024, the personal-finance company WalletHub recently released its report on “2025's Safest States in America.”
In order to determine the most secure states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 52 key metrics. The data set ranged from assaults per capita to the total loss amount from climate disasters per capita to the unemployment rate.
The safest states were Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Utah, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Wyoming.
The least safe were Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Key stats from the survey were:
- New Hampshire had the fewest murders and non-negligent manslaughters per 100,000 residents, which was 10.9 times fewer than in Louisiana, the most.
- Idaho had the fewest thefts per 1,000 residents, which was 3.8 times fewer than in New Mexico, the most.
- New Jersey had the most law-enforcement employees per 100,000 residents, which was 2.6 times more than in Washington, the fewest.
- Delaware had the lowest share of high school students who were bullied online, which was 2.2 times lower than in New Hampshire, the highest.
“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. They have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too. In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said.
“Vermont is the safest state, and nearly 75 percent of parents in Vermont believe they live in safe neighborhoods, the fourth-highest percentage in the country. In addition, Vermont has the 15th-fewest aggravated assaults, 17th-fewest murders and nonnegligent manslaughters, and 24th-fewest thefts per capita,” Lupo added. “Vermont excels when it comes to financial safety, with one of the lowest unemployment rates and one of the best job growth rates. In addition, Vermont has the second-fewest identity theft complaints per capita. To top things off, Vermont has safe roads, with the second-best road quality in the U.S., the 11th-fewest traffic fatalities per 100 million miles traveled and the sixth-fewest pedestrian fatalities per capita.”