You are more or less likely to be affected by crime depending on which state you live in. Based on data collected by the FBI, it turns out higher crime rates are all over the U.S. map, but the highest of all are often southern states, which also happen to be highest in crime.

Like the FBI 2018 Crime Report, criteria is based upon:

• Violent crimes per capita (i.e. rape, assault or murder)
• Property crimes per capita (i.e. vandalism or theft)

Top Ten Most Dangerous States     

The most dangerous state in America turns out to be Alaska, which may surprise you. Perhaps less remarkable, the safest state is New Hampshire.

The states that have been rated highest in violent and property crimes are:

1. Alaska
2. New Mexico
3. Louisiana
4. Arkansas
5. Tennessee
6. South Carolina
7. Alabama
8. Oklahoma
9. Missouri
10. Arizona

These ratings are based on an average of each state’s violent and property crime data as reported to the FBI by individual states.

So, Which Are the Safest States in America?

If you’re wondering what states rated as the top 10 safest states they are:

1. New Hampshire
2. Maine
3. Vermont
4. New Jersey
5. Virginia
6. Idaho
7. Connecticut
8. Rhode Island
9. Wyoming
10. Kentucky

A Closer Look at the Data

Going down the list of the most dangerous states in America, let’s look at the data for each. Note that there are crime numbers for both violent and property crimes and that a state can have different ratings for each category. The Most Dangerous listed here are placed according to the average of the numbers. For example, Tennessee is rate tenth most dangerous, but looked at individually, it would be third worst for violent crime and tenth worst for property crimes.

1. ALASKA

Population: 737,438

Violent crimes per 100K: 884

Property Crimes per 100K: 3,300

 

2. NEW MEXICO

Population: 2,095,428

Violent crimes per 100K: 856

Property Crimes per 100K: 3,419

 

3. LOUISIANA

Population: 4,659,978

Violent crimes per 100K: 537

Property Crimes per 100K: 3,276

 

4. ARKANSAS

Population: 3,013,825

Violent crimes per 100K: 543

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,913

 

5. TENNESSEE

Population: 6,770,110

Violent crimes per 100K: 623

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,825

 

6. SOUTH CAROLINA

Population: 5,084,127

Violent crimes per 100K: 488

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,817

 

7. ALABAMA

Population: 4,887,519

Violent crimes per 100K: 519

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,817

 

8. OKLAHOMA

Population: 3,943,079

Violent crimes per 100K: 466

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,875

9. MISSOURI

 

Population: 6,126,452

Violent crimes per 100K: 502

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,647

 

10. ARIZONA

Population: 737,171,646

Violent crimes per 100K: 474

Property Crimes per 100K: 2,676

 

Most of us probably don’t decide the state we move to because of this data, but it’s good to be aware of the stats when moving to a different state and city.

From an insurance standpoint, your location is factored into your premium cost. Thinking you’ll be moving to a new state or city for your job? You might be interested whether it is included in the most dangerous or the safest states in America.