The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracks crime data from all across the country. This data is broken down by city, state, and by the types of crimes. While this information is not gathered with the intent or purpose of ranking, it can give at least a broad indication of which areas are safer and which are more prone to crime.
The statistics maintained by the FBI consist of ten separate categories. Murder, rape, robbery, burglary, larceny, car theft and arson. In order to help determine the safest state in which to live, each category was ranked and the ranking assigned a score. Based on the scores in each of these ten categories the states were ranked from highest to lowest.
Determining the Safest State
The FBI statistics are completed on cities of all sizes. The calculations here were made based on cities with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants. This is based on the assumption most people will not relocate to a small town. Only one state which made the top ten safest states was located in the south, the remainder were located in the northern areas, or western areas.
The states with the lowest crime rates in each of the ten categories were spread across the country. The state with the lowest murder rate per 1,000 residents was South Dakota, followed closely by New Hampshire. Maine had the lowest number of rapes per 1,000 residents with Delaware coming in second. Idaho has the lowest robbery rate, Wyoming the lowest assault rate, Kentucky the lowest burglary rate, and lowest larceny rate. Indiana had the lowest rate of car thefts and Massachusetts had the lowest rate in arson.
Top Ten Safest States
- Montana
- Utah
- North Dakota
- Wyoming
- Maine
- Hawaii
- Kentucky
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Colorado
States With the Highest Crime Rate
With any list of the best, there is always the group which finds itself at the bottom of the list. In this case the states at the bottom of the list represent the states with the worst rankings as associated with crime rates in their larger cities. The states with the worst rankings, beginning with the worst are;
- Pennsylvania
- Florida
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Nevada
- Louisiana
- Kansas
- District of Columbia
Maryland had the highest murder rate, while California had the highest rape rate. Delaware had the highest rate of robberies and assaults. Surprisingly Alaska had the highest rate of burglary and Pennsylvania topped the list with the most number of arsons. Kansas was ranked with the highest rate of larceny and car thefts.
Within each of the states, regardless of where they were ranked have areas which are quite safe while others experience higher rates of crime. These rankings represent a broad view of the crime rate in cities over 50,000 residents within these states not of individual cities. It should also be noted the greater the number of cities with a population over 50,000 residents the higher the sample size for those states.
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