Survey: The States Where Residents Feel Least and Most Safe
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Concerns about mass shootings, personal violence, property crime and package theft are the things Americans are most worried about, according to a recent national safety survey.
Wyoming leads all states with the largest percentage of residents who feel safe living there, while Louisiana is where residents feel the least safe, according to a SafeWise survey.
SafeWise offers safety solutions, information and recommendations for homes and communities. During the past three years, SafeWise surveyed more than 15,000 Americans to see how safe they feel living in the US.
When it comes to how safe they feel in their state, 86% of Wyoming residents surveyed said they feel secure. New Hampshire (80%), Vermont (78%), Maine (77%) and Idaho (74%) were in the top five states where the percentage of the population felt most safe. The top 10 states also include North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Utah.
On the other hand, only 34% of Louisiana and New Mexico residents surveyed say they feel safe in their respective states. Nevada (39%), Washington (39%), California (40%), New York (40%) and Oregon (40%) all had low percentages of residents who feel secure. Illinois, Maryland and Alabama were also in the bottom 10.
New York had the largest share of respondents (70%) saying they worry about safety on a daily basis. Other states that had at least 60% of their residents concerned about their safety daily are Maryland, Illinois, Texas and Nevada.
Vermont had the lowest number of respondents (18%) who worried about their safety on a day-to-day basis. Wyoming (26%), North Dakota (30%), Montana (31%), Idaho and Minnesota (both 33%), Maine, South Dakota and Alaska (all 34%) and Kansas (35%) also had the least-worried residents thinking about their safety everyday.
“We were surprised to see an 8% drop in the overall level of daily concern about safety over the past three years—even though nearly 7 in 10 Americans think crime is increasing,” according to a company statement.
Overall, the mid-Atlantic region had the highest level (59%) of daily concern of any region, jumping 8% since 2019. The West-North-Central area had the lowest level of daily concern—39% for each of the past 3 years.
To see more on the SafeWise State of Safety survey click here.
Brent Woodie is associate editor at Route Fifty.
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