With over 11,000 Americans having died from gun violence this year and the country having experienced 27 billion-dollar climate disasters in 2024, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on 2025's Safest States in America, as well as expert commentary.
In order to determine the most secure states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 52 key metrics. The data set ranges from assaults per capita to the total loss amount from climate disasters per capita to the unemployment rate.
| Safest States in America | Least Safe States in America |
| 1. Vermont | 41. Missouri | |
| 2. Massachusetts | 42. Georgia | |
| 3. New Hampshire | 43. Alabama | |
| 4. Maine | 44. Colorado | |
| 5. Utah | 45. Oklahoma | |
| 6. Connecticut | 46. Arkansas | |
| 7. Hawaii | 47. Florida | |
| 8. Minnesota | 48. Texas | |
| 9. Rhode Island | 49. Mississippi | |
| 10. Wyoming | 50. Louisiana |
Key Stats
- New Hampshire has the fewest murders and non-negligent manslaughters per 100,000 residents, which is 10.9 times fewer than in Louisiana, the most.
- Idaho has the fewest thefts per 1,000 residents, which is 3.8 times fewer than in New Mexico, the most.
- New Jersey has the most law-enforcement employees per 100,000 residents, which is 2.6 times more than in Washington, the fewest.
- Delaware has the lowest share of high school students who were bullied online, which is 2.2 times lower than in New Hampshire, the highest.
To view the full report and your state rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/
“The safest states in America protect their residents from harm in a multitude of different ways, from keeping crime rates low and maintaining safe roadways to having strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations. They have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too. In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates.”
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“Vermont is the safest state, and nearly 75% of parents in Vermont believe they live in safe neighborhoods, the fourth-highest percentage in the country. In addition, Vermont has the 15th-fewest aggravated assaults, 17th-fewest murders and nonnegligent manslaughters, and 24th-fewest thefts per capita. Vermont excels when it comes to financial safety, with one of the lowest unemployment rates and one of the best job growth rates. In addition, Vermont has the second-fewest identity theft complaints per capita. To top things off, Vermont has safe roads, with the second-best road quality in the U.S., the 11th-fewest traffic fatalities per 100 million miles traveled and the sixth-fewest pedestrian fatalities per capita.”
- Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst
Expert Commentary
What actions can the current administration undertake to reduce crime and improve public safety?
“State and local policy makers have the most influence over crime and public safety. Policies such as education and poverty reduction serve the long-term goals. Short term goals are met by adequately funding, training and responsibly overseeing public safety agencies. These agencies should be equipped to provide services for the needs of the community, including mental health outreach and support, drug rehabilitation and violence prevention programs.”
Douglas Babcock, C.E.M., C.P.P., A.C.C. – Counterparts Coaching and Consulting
“The academic literature is quite clear that more cops = less crime. In the United States, we are incarcerating people at a rate several times in excess of our peer nations – we are likely long past the point where we are getting much benefit in terms of crime reduction from how much we are locking people up. We are probably worsening crime in some instances by taking people out of communities for committing relatively minor crimes. But policing is the opposite – our rates of police officers per capita are lower than in the European Union. One of our safest big cities, New York City, has an unusually high rate of police per capita. Ideally, we would shrink the prison system, ideally by drastically shortening sentences, making much greater use of parole and other non-prison strategies, and plow some of the savings into social spending as well as hiring more cops.”
Jake Wegmann – Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Are the police and healthcare labor force shortages affecting safety in the United States?
“Yes. Birthrates in the United States have been declining steadily since 2007. The peak that year was lower than the high in 1990, which is still lower than 100 years ago. Some experts predict we are sliding towards a labor shortage crisis in the coming decades. This shortage will affect public safety and healthcare in innumerable ways. This will compound the challenges already being faced in these two fields. Healthcare and public safety are very demanding fields. The pay is often not great and the lifestyle they require is not favored by many younger workers. The public sentiment, while improving in the past couple of years, is still not overly positive towards police officers. Opportunities in tech, the gig economy and other shifts in working environments are going to stress retention and recruitment for years to come. Public safety is not built quickly, although it can be lost very quickly. When police departments, hospitals, fire departments and rescue squads are not supported by their communities, everyone living and visiting the community, from residents to business owners to tourists suffer. The consequences ripple out through the tax base, schools, economy and beyond.”
Douglas Babcock, C.E.M., C.P.P., A.C.C. – Counterparts Coaching and Consulting
“Yes, with measurable effects. Reduced staffing in police departments can lengthen 911 response times and lower investigative capacity. Similarly, shortages of nurses and trauma physicians diminish hospital surge readiness and trauma care capacity, particularly in mass casualty events. Targeted retention bonuses, modernized training pathways, mental health supports to reduce burnout, lateral-entry programs, and partnerships with community responders can help. In healthcare, telehealth triage and nurse-led urgent care models are being used to offset shortages.”
Kheir Al-Kodmany, Ph.D. – Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
What tips do you have for consumers looking to improve their “financial” safety?
“For consumers to improve their financial safety they should be practicing the fundamental tasks associated with cyber protection – but with even more diligence. Passwords should be unique and long for each account and stored in a password manager. Unexpected emails received with an attachment should never be opened – even if they appear to be from a known sender – but instead should first be verified through out-of-band communication: that is, do not reply to the email sender but instead text or call them to verify they indeed sent the email with the attachment.”
Mark Ciampa, Ph.D. – Professor; Program Director, Graduate Cybersecurity Analytics, Western Kentucky University
“Automate savings toward a 3 – 6-month emergency fund; Federal Reserve surveys show many Americans cannot cover a $400 emergency without borrowing. Prioritize health, renters/homeowners, and disability insurance. In hazard-prone regions, add flood or earthquake coverage, since standard policies exclude them. Freeze your credit at all three bureaus, enable multi-factor authentication on financial accounts, and use a password manager to reduce exposure to fraud. Pay down credit cards and avoid payday loans, which research shows exacerbate financial instability. Keep critical documents backed up (cloud + offline), maintain an inventory of valuables, and know evacuation and insurance claims procedures. Avoid dependence on a single employer or sector. Diversification across industries and asset classes is a key hedge against economic shocks.”
Kheir Al-Kodmany, Ph.D. – Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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