Your chance of dying, being hit by a natural disaster, or being struck with financial ruin varies a lot depending on where you live in America. The folks over at Wallethub decided to rank all 50 states from safest to most dangerous. They used five factors to determine the rankings: (1) Personal & Residential Safety, (2) Financial Safety, (3) Road Safety, (4) Workplace Safety, and (5) Emergency Preparedness Rank.
I’m a born and raised Floridian. I had a 1-year stint in Texas and ~9-years in NYC, but I grew up in Florida and went to college here. So I’m not shocked at all to see Florida in the top 10 most dangerous states in America. If the mosquitoes, snakes, hurricanes, alligators, and stand-your-ground shooters don’t kill you then you’re likely to die from meth, opioids, or an accident on the highway. Florida’s the Australia of America. Frankly, I’m shocked to see Florida at #42 instead of 47 or higher.
WalletHub put together this map below and the rankings 1 through 50. Coming in as the safest state in America is Vermont. Mississippi is the least safe state. And 7 of the 10 least safe states in America are all in the South…Womp womp:
1. Vermont
2. Maine
3. Massachusetts
4. Minnesota
5. New Hampshire
6. Washington
7. Connecticut
8. Rhode Island
9. Utah
10. Hawaii
11. Virginia
12. Oregon
13. New York
14. Maryland
15. New Jersey
16. Indiana
17. North Carolina
18. Iowa
19. Arizona
20. Wisconsin
21. California
22. Pennsylvania
23. Ohio
24. Idaho
25. Delaware
26. Illinois
27. Kentucky
28. Michigan
29. Colorado
30. Nevada
31. West Virginia
32. Georgia
33. Wyoming
34. Nebraska
35. Tennessee
36. New Mexico
37. Kansas
38. Alaska
39. North Dakota
40. Alabama
41. Texas
42. Florida
43. South Dakota
44. Montana
45. Arkansas
46. Missouri
47. South Carolina
48. Oklahoma
49. Louisiana
50. Mississippi
As a state, Vermont’s population (625,741) is only slightly larger than Washington D.C. (601,723). So it makes sense that it’s safe as fuck to live there when you probably live 10 miles from your closest neighbor, and there’s only one city (Burlington) in the entire state and its population is just over 42,000.
I feel like it’s worth mentioning that Illinois, home of Chicago, ranks 22nd in terms of ‘Personal & Residential Safety’. You can flip through the news in prime time without some anchor talking about how Chicago’s on fire and it’s the murder capital of the world…There are 28 states where your physical safety is more in jeopardy than it is in Illinois. For what it’s worth, Alaska ranks #50, and is the most dangerous state for personal/residential safety.
You can check out the individual breakdowns of state safety HERE on WalletHub. (h/t Business Insider)