In a recent study published by WalletHub, Rhode Island ranks as the 4th safest state in the country.
With every new headline of a school shooting, terrorist attack or natural disaster, we can’t help but worry about our safety and of those we love. Safety, after all, is a fundamental human need. And we all require it to some degree in every setting of daily life: at home, in our classrooms, on our roads, in our places of work.
Every state provides a different level of safety in each of these areas. Thus, when choosing a new place to lay down roots, we must carefully consider the types of security we most highly prioritize — and insulate our finances against life’s hazards in order to minimize their potential damage.
To help ease the relocation process, especially during this season of peak moving, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 25 key “safety” metrics. The data set ranges from “number of assaults per capita” to “unemployment rate” to “estimated losses from climate disasters.”
Here’s the Top 10
Methodology
In order to identify the safest states in which to live, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key dimensions:1) Home & Community Safety, 2) Financial Safety, 3) Road Safety, 4) Workplace Safety, and 5) Safety from Natural Disasters.
They first identified 25 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was given a value between 0 and 100, wherein 100 represents the highest level of safety and 0 the lowest.
Finally, they calculated the overall score for each state using the weighted average across all metrics and ranked the states accordingly.
Home & Community Safety – Total Points: 40
- Number of Murders & Non-Negligent Manslaughters per Capita: Double Weight (~5.33 Points)
- Number of Forcible Rapes per Capita: Double Weight (~5.33 Points)
- Number of Assaults per Capita: Double Weight (~5.33 Points)
- Number of Thefts per Capita: Double Weight (~5.33 Points)
- Number of Sex Offenders per Capita: Double Weight (~5.33 Points)
- Number of Drug Abuses per Capita: Full Weight (~2.67 Points)
- Total Law-Enforcement Employees per Capita: Full Weight (~2.67 Points)
- Number of Active Firefighters per Capita: Full Weight (~2.67 Points)
- Suicide Rate: Full Weight (~2.67 Points)
- Bullying-Incidents Rate: Full Weight (~2.67 Points)
Financial Safety- Total Points: 15
- Percentage of Population Lacking Health-Insurance Coverage: Full Weight (~1.88 Points)
- Unemployment Rate: Double Weight (~3.75 Points)
- Foreclosure Rate: Full Weight(~1.88 Points)
- Credit Score: Full Weight (~1.88 Points)
- Debt per Income: Full Weight (~1.88 Points)
- Poverty Rate: Full Weight (~1.88 Points)
- Percentage of People with Rainy-Day Funds: Full Weight (~1.88 Points)
Road Safety – Total Points: 15
- Number of Fatalities per 100 Million Vehicle Miles of Travel: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Number of DUIs per Capita: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Pedestrian Fatality Rate per Capita: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Note: This metric also includes pedacyclists.
Workplace Safety – Total Points: 15
- Fatal Occupational Injury Rate per 100,000 Full-Time Workers: Double Weight (~7.50 Points)
- Injury & Illness Rate per 10,000 Full-Time Workers: Full Weight (~3.75 Points)
- Median Days Lost Due to Occupational Injuries & Illnesses: Full Weight (~3.75 Points)
Safety from Natural Disasters – Total Points: 15
- Number of Climate Disasters Causing $1 Billion+ in Damages in Past Decades: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
- Estimated Property Losses from Natural Disasters per Capita: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
Sources: Data used to create these rankings were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Parents for Megan’s Law, U.S. Fire Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Verisk Analytics, stopbullying.gov, Kaiser Family Foundation, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, TransUnion and CoreLogic.
