The 9 Safest States in America

With high demand for physicians in pretty much every region of the country, physicians have a wide array of choices when they are deciding where to begin their careers.

There’s no one single factor that physicians should consider when making that decision. Pay, cost of living, the quality of the school system, the reputation of the would-be employer, and simple gut instinct all play a role. However, one thing physicians might also consider is the safety of their would-be new home state.

WalletHub, the consumer finance website, recently set out to ascertain which states tend to be safest. We share their findings at the bottom of this report. Of course “safety” is an expansive term, and WalletHub’s report is cognizant of that, looping in a number of metrics ranging from the number of assaults and police officers per capita, to the number of bullying incidents, the unemployment rate, and the percentage of the population without health insurance.

If there’s a trend within the data, it’s that northern states—and northeastern states in particular—tend to be the safest. The nation’s six safest states, according to the survey, are all in the northeast. The least-safe states tend to be in the south, with Mississippi coming in last. One major outlier is Alaska, which is the third-least-safe state, thanks in large part to a relatively high number of motor vehicle accidents and crime.

Which states are the safest? What follows is WalletHub’s list of the nine safest states. In addition to the overall rank, we’ve included each state’s rank in each of three sub-categories: “Home and Community Safety,” “Road Safety,” and “Safety from Natural Disasters.” We also added one “standout stat” where the state ranked particularly high in a key metric.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 32

Road Safety Rank: 13

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 5

Standout Stat: Utah benefits from its location and weather. It has the third-lowest climate-related property losses of any state.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 12

Road Safety Rank: 8

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 32

Standout Stat: Virginia scores well on community safety. It has the fifth-fewest assaults per capita of any state.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 11

Road Safety Rank: 3

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 30

Standout Stat: Despite the winter weather, Minnesota has the third-lowest rate of fatality crashes per miles driven.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 3

Road Safety Rank: 6

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 18

Standout Stat: Connecticut has some of the safest workplaces in the US; its workplace fatality rate is tied for third-lowest in the US.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 8

Road Safety Rank: 15

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 2

Standout Stat: Maine’s number one when it comes to safety from violent crime. It has the lowest rate of assaults of any state.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 4

Road Safety Rank: 4

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 16

Standout Stat: Like Minnesota, Rhode Island is known for safe driving. The state has the fifth-lowest rate of traffic fatalities.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 10

Road Safety Rank: 9

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 6

Standout Stat: New Hampshire has the fourth-fewest assaults per capita, and also scores well in the financial security arena; it has the fourth-lowest unemployment rate.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 7

Road Safety Rank: 1

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 9

Standout Stat: Massachusetts is tops when it comes to workplace safety; the state has the lowest workplace injury-related fatality rate of any state.

Home and Community Safety Rank: 1

Road Safety Rank: 5

Safety from Natural Disasters Rank: 4

Standout Stat: Vermont ranks highly in a number of categories, including second place ranks in terms of lowest rates of traffic fatalities and lowest rates of assaults.

To read WalletHub’s full report, click here.