Gun crime, shootings, murders, assault… it may seem that the whole country is sinking in crime these days. But that’s not the case and there are still beautiful and safe places that you can choose to live in. How do we know? Because we did the math.
We wanted to find out for ourselves how safe or dangerous each state in the US is. So we crunched the latest data available to paint a complete picture of crime in America. To ensure a comprehensive ranking that covers all aspects of serious crime as defined by the FBI, we looked at statistics for homicide, murder, manslaughter, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle crime.
Here’s a visual, easy-to-read and up-to-date crime heat map of America. More pretty infographics and tables can also be found below.
Click to enlarge
Main Findings
The 5 safest states are:
- New Hampshire
- Maine
- New Jersey
- Vermont
- New York
The 5 most unsafe states are:
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Washington
Insights:
- New Hampshire is the safest state in the US overall, coming in 3rd for least violent crime, and 1st for least property crime.
- However, New Hampshire has a surprisingly poor ranking of just 32 for rapes.
- Ohio best represents the average crime rate (2898 per 100,000 people).
- New Mexico is the most unsafe state in the US, coming in second-last for violent crime and last for property crime. Only Alaska beat New Mexico in violent crime.
- New Mexico also tops the charts for both burglary and vehicle crime.
- Louisiana has the highest murder rate, whereas New Hampshire has the lowest.
- Alaska is the most unsafe state for women, whereas New Jersey is the safest for women.
- Alaska tops the charts once again for aggravated assault, whereas Maine is the least violent.
- Robberies are 21 times more frequent in Nevada than Wyoming which has the lowest robberies per capita (per person).
Safest States to live in – Ranking
Please note that the overall ranking is based on the total number of crimes per capita (per person). So for example New Hampshire might have worse violent crime than Maine, but overall the crime rate per capita is still lower than that of Maine’s.
| State | Overall Rank - Serious Crime | Total Serious Crime per 100,000 population | Rank - Murder | Rank - Rape | Rank - Robbery | Rank - Aggravated Assault | Rank - Burglary | Rank - Motor Theft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 1 | 1711 | 1 | 33 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Maine | 2 | 1770 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| New Jersey | 3 | 1790 | 23 | 1 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| Vermont | 4 | 1856 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
| New York | 5 | 1922 | 17 | 8 | 39 | 24 | 4 | 4 |
| Massachusetts | 6 | 1938 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 31 | 2 | 7 |
| Idaho | 7 | 1975 | 15 | 30 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 8 |
| Connecticut | 8 | 2035 | 7 | 2 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| Pennsylvania | 9 | 2059 | 26 | 13 | 31 | 16 | 8 | 5 |
| Virginia | 10 | 2077 | 31 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 6 |
| Rhode Island | 11 | 2138 | 12 | 25 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| Wyoming | 12 | 2202 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 21 | 15 | 10 |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 2239 | 22 | 12 | 29 | 18 | 13 | 20 |
| Michigan | 14 | 2369 | 34 | 48 | 21 | 37 | 10 | 24 |
| Minnesota | 15 | 2376 | 3 | 29 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 16 |
| Iowa | 16 | 2377 | 8 | 23 | 9 | 23 | 18 | 17 |
| South Dakota | 17 | 2399 | 16 | 44 | 7 | 40 | 14 | 21 |
| West Virginia | 18 | 2405 | 24 | 16 | 10 | 34 | 17 | 11 |
| Kentucky | 19 | 2422 | 32 | 18 | 23 | 3 | 19 | 28 |
| Illinois | 20 | 2485 | 47 | 20 | 46 | 28 | 16 | 15 |
| North Dakota | 21 | 2547 | 5 | 34 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 35 |
| Nebraska | 22 | 2554 | 11 | 42 | 11 | 19 | 21 | 33 |
| Maryland | 23 | 2757 | 45 | 5 | 49 | 30 | 23 | 22 |
| Ohio | 24 | 2878 | 30 | 38 | 36 | 9 | 28 | 19 |
| Indiana | 25 | 2994 | 36 | 19 | 38 | 27 | 26 | 27 |
| California | 26 | 2998 | 25 | 14 | 47 | 32 | 24 | 49 |
| Mississippi | 27 | 3049 | 46 | 31 | 26 | 12 | 37 | 12 |
| Montana | 28 | 3052 | 19 | 43 | 6 | 35 | 29 | 37 |
| Kansas | 29 | 3076 | 21 | 35 | 16 | 33 | 30 | 30 |
| Colorado | 30 | 3083 | 20 | 46 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 44 |
| North Carolina | 31 | 3110 | 38 | 3 | 30 | 26 | 34 | 13 |
| Florida | 32 | 3117 | 28 | 17 | 33 | 36 | 31 | 25 |
| Texas | 33 | 3194 | 27 | 37 | 44 | 29 | 33 | 34 |
| Utah | 34 | 3194 | 9 | 40 | 12 | 10 | 40 | 41 |
| Oregon | 35 | 3229 | 14 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 39 | 43 |
| Nevada | 36 | 3265 | 44 | 45 | 50 | 45 | 25 | 48 |
| Delaware | 37 | 3275 | 33 | 9 | 48 | 41 | 36 | 18 |
| Hawaii | 38 | 3302 | 10 | 32 | 19 | 20 | 35 | 45 |
| Missouri | 39 | 3319 | 49 | 26 | 37 | 42 | 32 | 40 |
| Georgia | 40 | 3402 | 37 | 11 | 42 | 25 | 44 | 36 |
| Oklahoma | 41 | 3433 | 35 | 41 | 27 | 38 | 41 | 42 |
| Arizona | 42 | 3449 | 29 | 36 | 35 | 39 | 43 | 38 |
| Alabama | 43 | 3480 | 48 | 22 | 32 | 44 | 42 | 32 |
| Tennessee | 44 | 3487 | 42 | 24 | 41 | 48 | 38 | 29 |
| South Carolina | 45 | 3746 | 43 | 39 | 28 | 43 | 46 | 39 |
| Washington | 46 | 3796 | 13 | 28 | 24 | 15 | 48 | 47 |
| Arkansas | 47 | 3820 | 41 | 47 | 20 | 47 | 47 | 31 |
| Louisiana | 48 | 3864 | 50 | 21 | 43 | 46 | 49 | 26 |
| Alaska | 49 | 4157 | 40 | 50 | 40 | 50 | 45 | 46 |
| New Mexico | 50 | 4640 | 39 | 49 | 45 | 49 | 50 | 50 |
Violent Crime
Violent crime includes, murder, crimes against women, robbery and aggravated assault.
Murder
Crimes against Women (Rape)
Robbery
Aggravated Assault
Property Crime
Property crime includes burglary/theft and motor vehicle thefts.
Burglary/Theft
Motor vehicle theft
Source and Methodology
Our source for this analysis is the 2016 serious crimes data published by the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
In the info-graphics above, we combined burglary and larceny-theft together under the single heading of burglary/theft as they are very similar.
Conclusion
Crime rates vary wildly across the country as our analysis shows above. But armed with the facts, you can make an informed choice about how to best protect yourself and your family.
Whether you are living in one of the top or bottom-ranked states, its always good to take proper security measures such as a burglar alarm and security camera system.
Thank you for making this.
I wonder if an average rank might be helpful in addition to what you have provided. Take the example of Maine vs. New Hampshire. There are more crimes per person in Maine than in New Hampshire. But, the New Hampshire rank for rape is atrocious: 33. You might be less likely to suffer a crime overall in New Hampshire, but the likelihood of suffering a rape is huge compared to other states. If you average out the ranks for all crimes in each state, New Hampshire ends up with 8.6, while Maine ends up with 3.3. This could be useful for people to know.
I like the ability to look at states on the basis of which crimes are more severe. Thank you for that. I’d much rather have my car stolen than risk violent assault, rape, or murder.
I’m in Nevada.. It’s scary here!!
It was very interesting. What is it about New Mexico? Who would have ever thought it would be #1.
I really like the infographic. It helps me easily see which states have the highest crime rates & lowest crime rates. Luckily, I live in one of the states with the lowest crime rates. My state is 3rd lowest for murder. Woohoo!!
Thanks and glad you found it useful.