In light of the January attack on the nation’s capital, the personal-finance website WalletHub, released its report on 2021’s “Best State Capitals for Safety and More.”
Seventeen state capitals are the most-populated cities in their states and FBI warned there could be armed protests in all 50 state capitals in response to president-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
To identify the most livable seats of state government, WalletHub compared all 50 state capitals across 44 key metrics, ranging from the cost of living to K–12 school-system quality to COVID-19 cases.
WalletHub said the safest state capitals are Austin, Texas, Madison, Wis., Raleigh, N.C., Lincoln, Neb., Boise, Idaho, Concord, N.H., Olympia, Wash., Columbus, Ohio, Helena, Mont., Salt Lake City, Montpelier, Vt., Bismarck, N.D., Oklahoma City, Des Moines, Iowa., Atlanta, Denver, Annapolis, Md., Cheyenne, Wyo., Frankfort, Ky. and St. Paul, Minn.
The best versus worst cases included:
- Montpelier, Vt. had the fewest COVID-19 cases in the past week (per 100,000 residents), 1,584.04, which is 9.2 times fewer than in Bismarck, N.D., the city with the most at 14,590.29.
- Montpelier, Vt. had the lowest violent-crime rate per 1,000 residents, 1.49, which is 10.2 times lower than in Little Rock, Ark., the city with the highest at 15.17.
- Austin, Texas, had the highest median household income (adjusted for cost of living), $72,081, which is 2.4 times higher than in Hartford, Conn., the city with the lowest at $30,614.
- Montpelier, Vt. had the lowest unemployment rate, 2.30 percent, which is 5.7 times lower than in Harrisburg, Pa., the city with the highest at 13.20 percent.
- Montpelier, Vt. had the highest share of adults age 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree, 61.60 percent, which is five times higher than in Trenton, N.J., the city with the lowest at 12.20 percent.