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A new study which looked at 24 key indicators relating to personal and financial safety has revealed the least and most dangerous states in America.
The study compares all 50 states across 24 key metrics in two categories relating to personal safety and financial safety.
Those metrics included data on mass shootings, murders, rapes, assaults, overdoses, firefighters per capita, fire casualties, suicides, fatal crashes, drunk driver prevalence, workplace deaths, infant mortality, violent crime, property crime, registered sex offenders, police per capita, climate disasters, people without health insurance, unemployment rates, poverty, debt rate, identity fraud and all fraud.
The data used to create these rankings were collected from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FBI Crime Data Explorer, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Fire Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Census Bureau, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Here’s what the research uncovered…
The 10 most dangerous states in America
1. Arkansas
2. Louisiana
3. Tennessee
4. South Carolina
5. Nevada
6. Missouri
7. Texas
8. North Carolina
9. New Mexico
10. Georgia
Arkansas takes the “top” spot largely based on being among the states with the highest rates of reported sexual assaults, reported fatal crashes, levels of reported violent crime, and number of registered sex offenders.
• California ranked worst in the number of reported mass shooting incidents.
• Mississippi has the highest rate of reported homicides, the highest number of reported fatal crashes, the highest rate of infant mortality, and the highest rate of firearm-related deaths.
• Alaska ranked last with the highest rate of reported sexual assaults and the highest rate of reported deaths caused by fires.
• West Virginia has the highest rate of reported drug overdoses.
• Pennsylvania has the fewest number of firefighters.
• Louisiana reported having the highest number of drivers who have admitted to driving after having too much to drink and the highest level of reported poverty.
• New Mexico has the highest level of reported violent crime.
• Oregon has the highest number of registered sex offenders.
• Georgia reported having the highest level of reported identity theft.
The 10 least dangerous states in America
1. Rhode Island
2. New Hampshire
3. Massachusetts
4. New Jersey
5. Maine
6. Connecticut
7. Vermont
8. Minnesota
9. Hawaii
10. New York
Rhode Island is considered the safest state in America due to its rankings among states with the lowest rates of reported homicides, infant mortality, firearm-related deaths, reported violent crime, and reported deaths caused by fires, as well as the number of reported fatal crashes and number of registered sex offenders, plus having among the highest number of firefighters.
• New Hampshire has the lowest rate of reported homicides.
• New Jersey ranked first with the lowest rate of reported sexual assaults and the least number of registered sex offenders.
• South Dakota reported the lowest rate of drug overdoses and the lowest level of reported identity theft.
• New Hampshire has the highest number of firefighters and the lowest level of reported poverty.
• Oregon has the lowest rate of reported deaths caused by fires.
• New Mexico reported having the fewest number of drivers who have admitted to driving after having too much to drink.
• Rhode Island led with the fewest number of reported fatal crashes and the lowest rate of firearm-related deaths.
• Massachusetts has the lowest rate of infant mortality.
• Maine has the lowest level of reported violent crime.
The full results of the study, conducted by self storage company Pink Storage, can be viewed here.