With the U.S. experiencing over 500 mass shootings this year and the COVID-19 pandemic persisting, the personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on “2022's Safest Cities in America.”
To determine where Americans can feel most protected against life’s hazards, including nonphysical forms of danger, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 42 key metrics. The data set ranges from the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated and assaults per capita to the unemployment rate and road quality.
The safest cities were Columbia, Md., Nashua, N.H., Laredo, Texas, Portland, Maine, Warwick, R.I., Yonkers, N.Y., Gilbert, Ariz., Burlington, Vt., Raleigh, N.C. and Lewiston, Maine.
The least-safe cities, according to the survey, were Chattanooga, Tenn., Jackson, Miss., Oakland, Calif., Memphis, Tenn., Baton Rouge, La., Detroit, San Bernardino, Calif., Fort Lauderdale, Fla, and St. Louis.
The safest versus least-safe takeaways were:
- Irvine, Calif., has the fewest aggravated assault incidents (per 100,000 residents), 22.22, which is 86.3 times fewer than in Memphis, Tenn., the city with the most at 1,917.08.
- Port St. Lucie, Fla., has the fewest thefts (per 1,000 residents), 8.26, which is 9.2 times fewer than in Salt Lake City, the city with the most at 75.93.
- Washington, D.C. has the most law-enforcement employees (per 100,000 residents), 624, which is 6.8 times more than in Chula Vista, Calif., the city with the fewest at 92.
- Gilbert, Ariz., has among the fewest pedestrian fatalities (per 100,000 residents), 0.40, which is 25.3 times fewer than in Little Rock, Ark., the city with the most at 10.10.