The Safest and Least Safe States in America, Ranked

You could spend your entire life feeling secure in the "least safe" state in America, or find yourself apprehensive in one of the safest. Several factors affect the safety of a street, neighborhood, city, or region. 

A state’s ranking on the list of safest states largely depends on personal and residential safety, road safety, emergency preparedness, workplace safety, and financial security.

Let’s break down the data to see which states are the safest and least safe in America.

WHAT'S DRIVING THE DATA?

WalletHub analyzed a combination of factors that contribute to a state's safety to determine the most and least safe places in America.

Their review included the number of terrorist incidents, mass shootings, assaults, manslaughter cases, registered sex offenders, law enforcement employees, and neighborhood watch groups, as well as debt levels, unemployment rates, job security, road fatalities, DUIs, work-related injuries, and climate disasters.

Based on these metrics, three states are the safest, while three others rank least safe.

THE UNITED STATES OF SAFETY

The three safest states, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine, are all located in the Northeast. Many surrounding states, such as New Hampshire and Connecticut, also rank among the safest in the nation.

Vermont scored well for neighborhood safety, with the seventh-most neighborhood watch groups per capita and minimal thefts and murders. It also has a very low unemployment rate compared to the rest of the U.S. and the fifth-fewest traffic fatalities. Identity theft complaints are also rare in Vermont. 

Massachusetts, the second-safest state, boasts a high number of residents saving for their children’s college education. It reports very low numbers of sexual crimes and drug arrests, and ranks highly for financial safety. The state also has a large number of EMTs and recorded the 10th fewest mass shootings from 2024 to 2026.

Maine, ranking third, experiences very little violence overall. The state has the 11th-best average credit score and a very low unemployment rate.

Other states considered among the top 10 safest include New Hampshire, Connecticut, Utah, Minnesota, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. 

On the other side of the list, the three least safe states, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, are all in the South. Each received poor marks for financial, residential, road, personal, and workplace safety. They also had the lowest possible scores for emergency preparedness and are vulnerable to extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes.

Mississippi, ranked the least safe state in America, scored last in all categories except residential safety (where Alaska ranked last).

Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Alabama, and Georgia also ranked among the least safe in the U.S.

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