Safest cities in America, 2019
By Ginger Hill
Updated Wed December 4, 2019
Did you know that nearly half of the U.S. population fears being a victim of a mass shooting? According to an August 2019 Gallup poll, 48 percent of U.S. adults are “very” or “somewhat” worried, which is up 9 percent after a gunman killed 58 people in Las Vegas in 2017. While each of us takes on a certain level of risk no matter where we choose to live, and of course, unfortunately, none of us can avoid danger all the time, some cities are better at protecting their residents.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared 182 cities across the nation, including the 150 most populated U.S. cities in addition to at least two of the most populated cities in each state. One of the three dimensions measured was “home & community safety,” containing metrics such as number of mass shootings, presence of terrorist attacks, thefts per capita and more. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of safety.
The results are as follows.
The top 5 safest cities based solely on the “home & community safety” dimension:
- Yonkers, New York
- Plano, Texas
- Columbia, Maryland
- Irvine, California
- Aurora, Illinois
The top 5 least safest cities based solely on the “home & community safety” dimension:
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Detroit, Michigan
- San Bernardino, California
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The top 5 safest cities based on overall score, including all three dimensions: “home & community safety,” natural disaster risk,” and “financial safety,”:
- Columbia, Maryland — 85.33
- Yonkers, New York — 84.80
- Plano, Texas — 83.54
- Gilbert, Arizona — 83.44
- South Burlington, Vermont — 83.33
The top 5 least safest cities based on overall score, including all three dimensions: “home & community safety,” natural disaster risk,” and “financial safety,”:
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana — 56.26
- Detroit, Michigan — 56.07
- San Bernardino, California — 53.93
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida — 45.88
- St. Louis, Missouri — 42.90
Where does your city or nearest city rank? Click here for an interactive map.
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