The 20 safest cities in the US
- WalletHub has released its ranking of the safest cities in the US based on three key metrics: home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety.
- Factors taken into account include the presence of terrorist attacks, the number of mass shootings, unemployment rate, median credit score, and the risk of natural disasters.
- Columbia, Maryland, was named the safest US city for the second year in a row.
- Arizona, and specifically the suburbs of Phoenix, are a safe place to live.
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WalletHub has released its annual rankings of the safest cities in the US. Of the 182 cities analyzed, these are the 20 safest cities in the US based on three metrics: home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety.
Essentially, here are the best places to live to be safe from crime and violence, safe from getting stuck in a hurricane, earthquake, or tornado, and to be in a good spot to buy a home or find a job.
Keep scrolling to see the 20 safest cities in the US, according to WalletHub.
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20. Aurora, Illinois
Aurora, which has a population of just over 200,000, ranked fifth overall in the home and community safety rank, which took into consideration factors such as the presence of terrorist attacks, assaults and murders, and law-enforcement employees per capita.
19. Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is the second-largest city in Maine, after Portland, with a population of around 36,000.
18. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is a financially safe city — it ranked 12th overall.
In the study, financial safety took into consideration factors including poverty rate, foreclosure rate, employment rates, the share of insured residents, and debt-to-income ratio.
17. Laredo, Texas
Laredo, population 251,000, is a mid-size city on the eastern side of the border between Texas and Mexico.
Though it ranks high in safety, it has the second-highest percentage of uninsured citizens, only behind Brownsville, Texas. In contrast, Pearl City, Hawaii, has the highest percentage of insured citizens.
16. Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is perhaps known best as a college town, as it's home to the University of Wisconsin's flagship campus. It's also the state capital.
Madison also made Business Insider's list of most underrated cities in the US in 2018.
15. Peoria, Arizona
Peoria is one of the biggest suburbs of Phoenix, as 158,000 people reside there. It's also where the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners have their spring training.
14. Burlington, Vermont
Both Burlington and South Burlington are tied for the lowest unemployment rate in the US, alongside Madison, Honolulu, Fargo, and San Francisco.
13. Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the state of North Dakota with a population of over 115,000. It has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.
12. Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is just east of Phoenix, and was called the "desert version of Miami's South Beach" by the New York Times.
11. Chesapeake, Virginia
Chesapeake was ranked 15th for home and community safety by WalletHub.
10. Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick has the second lowest number of assaults per capita.
9. Chandler, Arizona
Chandler is yet another suburb of Phoenix that has made this list. It ranked eighth for natural disaster risk, making it relatively safe from any inclement weather or disasters.
8. Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua, which sits right on the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, has the fifth lowest number of assaults per capita.
7. Bismarck, North Dakota
North Dakota came in at No. 9 for financial safety.
6. Virginia Beach, Virginia
This beach town came in at No. 11 in the home and community safety ranking, though its overall score was damaged by its No. 44 ranking for natural disaster risk.
In the study, the natural disaster ranking considered risks such as earthquakes, floods, hail, hurricanes, and wildfires.
5. South Burlington, Vermont
In addition to its low unemployment rate, South Burlington has the second lowest number of uninsured citizens.
4. Gilbert, Arizona
One of Gilbert's neighboring towns is fellow safe city, Chandler. This city of of 226,000 ranked No. 7 for home and community safety.
3. Plano, Texas
Plano's high risk of natural disasters (No. 113) is offset by its No. 2 spot for home and community safety.
2. Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is tied fourth for fewest traffic fatalities per capita with Boston. Perhaps shockingly, the city with the fewest is New York City.
1. Columbia, Maryland
According to WalletHub, Columbia is the safest city in America. The city has a population of 103,000. It is around 31 miles outside of Washington, D.C. and 21 miles outside of Baltimore.
The 50-year-old planned community also won the top spot last year.
Incredibly, Baltimore was near the other end of the list: It was the 158th safest out of 182 cities.
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