The safest states in America: Are you living in one of them?

Police tape is strung up at a scene in Salt Lake City on Jan. 13, 2023. In a recent report by WalletHub, Utah was considered the fifth safest state overall.

Police tape is strung up at a scene in Salt Lake City on Jan. 13, 2023. In a recent report by WalletHub, Utah was considered the fifth safest state overall. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)


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Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Utah ranks as the fifth safest state in a WalletHub report.
  • Utah's crime rate is 37% below the national average, but package theft is prevalent.
  • Residents use security cameras, guard dogs, and firearms for property protection.

SALT LAKE CITY — For many people, safety is a top priority when choosing a new place to live. In a recent report by WalletHub, Utah was considered the fifth safest state overall after analyzing factors ranging from assault to climate disasters.

"The safest states in America protect their residents from harm in a multitude of different ways, from keeping crime rates low and maintaining safe roadways to having strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said.

"They have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too. In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates," he added.

Top five safest states:

  1. Vermont
  2. New Hampshire
  3. Maine
  4. Massachusetts
  5. Utah

Top five most dangerous states:

  1. Louisiana
  2. Mississippi
  3. Texas
  4. Arkansas
  5. Florida

Crime and safety in Utah

The amount and type of crime committed in Utah depend on the city. According to SafeHome statistics, Salt Lake City, Murray and Riverdale had the highest reports of property crimes. Salt Lake City also had the highest violent crime rates, followed by Moab and Ogden.

If it's any comfort, Utah is below the national crime rate average by 37% "with 242 violent crimes reported per 100,000 residents." Serial killer Ted Bundy was listed as the most infamous criminal in Utah, meaning it's been about five decades since anything of that severity.

That's not to say Utah is always a safe bubble, "across the state of Utah, rape is the only violent crime in Utah with higher rates than the national average," SafeHome reported.

When it comes to crimes that Utahns are most concerned about falling victim to, a Safewise survey found that property crime, specifically package left, is at the top. Apparently, it isn't an irrational one; the survey found that Utah has the highest report of package theft nationwide.

"Almost 1 in 2 of survey respondents (48%) in Utah reported experiencing package theft in the 12 months prior to the survey," Safewise reported. The national average was 35%. "58% of participants expressed a high level of concern about package theft—above the U.S. average of 53%."

How are Utahns protecting their property? The top responses were security cameras, guard dogs and firearms.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Emma Pitts, Deseret NewsEmma Pitts

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