Safest and Most Dangerous States in the U.S. 2022: Annual Ranking Updated
The 2022 edition of WalletHub’s annual report compares the 50 states across 53 key safety indicators to determine which are the safest and least safe.
Personal-finance website WalletHub has released the 2022 edition of its “Safest States in America” report.
In order to determine the most secure states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 53 key metrics grouped into five different 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. You can view the full details of the report and its methodology here.
The Safest States in America
New England continues to be the safest region of the country, according to WalletHub’s metrics. Vermont was named the safest state in the U.S. for the second year in a row. Maine, New Hampshire and Utah were also the runners-up in back-to-back years. The rest of the states in the top 10 remains unchanged from last year, except for Hawaii landing at number five, replacing New Jersey which was ranked 10th last year.
- Vermont
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Utah
- Hawaii
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Minnesota
- Washington
- Rhode Island
The Most Dangerous States in America
The South continues to be ranked as the least safe states in the U.S., according to WalletHub. Louisiana was named the least safe state in America for the second year in a row. Mississippi was also the second least safe state in the country for a second year in a row. The rest of the states in the top 10 remains unchanged from last year, except for South Carolina coming in at number nine, replacing Montana which landed sixth last year.
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Arkansas
- Texas
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Missouri
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
Click here for a slideshow comparing statistics such as assaults per capita and law enforcement numbers between the safest and most dangerous states.
Though this data doesn’t reflect solely physical safety, security professionals can look at the specific score of the personal and residential safety category to get an idea of what states are likely in need of better home security.
Do you think this data correlates with your state? Let us know in the comments!
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About the Author
Steve Karantzoulidis, Web/Senior Editor
Steven A. Karantzoulidis is the Web Editor for Security Sales & Integration. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Communication and has a background in Film, A/V and Social Media.
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Does this exclude California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania? Apparently there were issues with the reports from these states.
in South Carolina it’s all big city crime once you leave the city’s the crime rates plummet
Coming from a person who lives in Bentonville Arkansas, I did not expect the state to be ranked as one of the most dangerous.
What is the top 25 safest countrys
What about Oregon, there are some serious crime things downtown
This list is nonsense. The most dangerous states are red, pro-gun states….? That’s hilarious. It’s basically the opposite of reality, unless “most dangerous” translates to “most dangerous states for a criminal because they’re likely to get shot while breaking into a home”.
CA, NY, IL, PA…those are by far the worst states for crime AND your legal right to defend yourself and your family. OR and WA could be added as well, but most of their problems relate directly to Portland and Seattle, and once you leave those city limits things get immediately better.
The above list is obviously politically motivated. The more guns a community has and the more dogs a neighborhood has, the safer it is because criminals won’t go there. Strict gun control laws go hand-in-hand with DAs that refuse to prosecute criminals, so crime just gets out of control once thugs realize they won’t be prosecuted and citizens can’t legally defend themselves. Want safety? Move to a state where everyone is packing a gun. Those states prosecute criminals properly, and you can actually defend yourself when some POS tries to rape you or break into your home.
Down town Minneapolis people get shot left and right at night ! I would not consider that very safe! Bloomington has been crazy lately too at Mall Of America they have been on lockdown a few times the last 6 months and they need better control with there gun policy now people are shooting inside the mall every other week around there.
Just because the list does’t agree with what you want it to say does not mean it is false. Check out the FBI’s website on crime.
Lol with the “Check out the FBI’s website on crime”. That’s like saying “check out Snopes for a good fact-checking” or any of the other “fact-checkers” owned by the same agencies that put out the propaganda.
Where do you suggest we get the “real” statistics?
I’m curious to see which states make the list. I’m from Texas and I feel pretty safe here.
Interesting ranking! I live in state #5 and had no idea it was considered one of the safest states in the country. defintely sharing this with my friends and family!