Why did this study label Southern states as some of the least safe places in the country?
When a recent study by WalletHub ranked each U.S. state based on personal, professional, financial and road safety, many Southern states ranked the lowest.
Here’s why:
What makes the South unsafe?
Georgia received a safety score of 44.58 out of 100, according to WalletHub’s study, making it the 13th most unsafe state in the country.
The Peach State scored especially low in categories of financial and road safety and also has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the U.S.
In comparison, Florida ranked the fifth most unsafe state with an overall score of 39.97 out of 100 with a low score in road and workplace safety.
Alabama, which ranked the sixth most unsafe state in the country, had a score of 40.97 with a poor score in financial safety.
Louisiana ranked the most unsafe state in the U.S. with an overall score of 32.99. The state had poor emergency preparedness scores as well as low scores in personal and residential safety.
Mississippi ranked the second most unsafe and had the worst scores in categories of financial safety, road safety and emergency preparedness in the entire country. However, the state ranked 24th most safe for personal and residential safety.
How did the study get its data?
The WalletHub study got its data from a number of sources including U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The study compiled the data, then compared each of the 50 states based on: (1) Personal & Residential Safety, 2) Financial Safety, 3) Road Safety, 4) Workplace Safety, and 5) Emergency Preparedness.
The study broke down each category into metrics like number of mass shootings, assaults per capita, unemployment rates, poverty rates, vehicle fatalities, occupational injuries and climate disasters. The metrics were graded on a 100-point scale for each state, with 100 being the highest level of safety. Once scored, each state was then ranked 1 to 50.
Safest states in the U.S.
The WalletHub study found the safest states to be:
Vermont: 68.27 out of 100
Maine: 65.85
New Hampshire: 65.71
Utah: 63.81
Massachusetts: 62.93
Connecticut: 60.00
Hawaii: 59.87
Minnesota: 59.83
Rhode Island: 59.52
Wyoming: 57.22
Unsafest states in the U.S.
The study also found the states ranked the least safe:
Louisiana: 32.99
Mississippi: 34.86
Arkansas: 36.17
Texas: 37.12
Florida: 39.97
Alabama: 40.97
Oklahoma: 41.32
Colorado: 42.22
Montana: 42.67
Missouri: 44.20
The link to the full report can be found online.
Does this report surprise you? Comment below to share your thoughts or email me at cmadden@mcclatchy.com
This story was originally published February 14, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Why did this study label Southern states as some of the least safe places in the country?."
