What makes a state safe to live in? Is it low crime rates? A healthy population? Absence of major weather catastrophes? Or all of the above – and more?
While it may be difficult to quantify, we have some idea of how states compare to each other in terms of safety.
Wallet Hub recently released its Safest States In America list. A total of 55 key safety indicators were analyzed across five categories, and each state was given an overall rank based on its number.
The five categories were personal and residential safety, financial safety, road safety, workplace safety, and emergency preparedness. Some of the specific criteria under those categories were: Fewest fatal occupational injuries per total workers, lowest share of uninsured people, and fewest assaults per capita.
Ohio
Ohio came it at #33, meaning there are 32 states considered safer than Ohio.
Ohio’s highest score was in the category of financial safety.
Kentucky
Kentucky came in at #25, meaning there are 25 states considered safer than Kentucky.
Kentucky’s highest score was also in the category of financial safety.
The 5 Safest States
#1: Vermont (most safe)
#2: Maine
#3: New Hampshire
#4: Minnesota
#5: Utah
The 5 Least Safe States
#1: Louisiana (least safe)
#2: Mississippi
#3: Texas
#4: Arkansas
#5: Oklahoma
With Ohio and Kentucky coming in in the middle range, there is certainly room for improvement. But identifying what specific steps can be taken to improve that ranking may be difficult.
Rather, individuals should feel empowered to take steps to improve their quality of life – and subsequently their level of safety – by practicing defensive driving techniques, maintaining full auto insurance coverage, staying active and eating healthy, etc.
Individually, we can only control so much. But when we as individuals do what we can to stay safe, we can work on improving our collective safety as communities and states.
