10 Least Safe Cities in America
Crime rates are on the rise in these cities, according to a new report.
Personal safety is a complicated thing, often impacted by crime, natural disasters, and financial insecurity. Taking all these factors into account, the personal finance site WalletHub recently released a report on the most and least safe cities in the U.S. To compile the list, researchers analyzed 41 safety metrics from 182 cities, rating each city on a 100-point scale overall. The country's safest city—Nashua, New Hampshire—received a safety score of 86. The least safe city scored 46.88. Read on to find out what it is, and what other cities occupy the bottom 10.
Overall safety score: 60.58 (out of 100)
The nation's capital is also its 10th least safe city, the researchers found. Washington, D.C. ranked 180th (near dead last) in the category of home and community safety, 80th in natural disaster risk, and 106th in financial safety—even though D.C. has the country's highest number of law enforcement employees per capita.
Overall safety score: 60.31
Los Angeles ranked 167th for home and community safety, 149th in natural disaster risk, and 149th in financial safety (a category that measured employment rate, health and auto insurance coverage, credit scores, debts, and other factors).
Overall safety score: 60.28
Oklahoma City ranked 156th in home and community safety (a category that factored crime rate, mass shootings, traffic fatalities, number of safety personnel, along with other statistics), 173rd in natural disaster risk, and 77th in financial safety.
Overall safety score: 59.73
Memphis ranked 170th in home and community safety, 85th in natural disaster risk, and 182nd in financial safety.
Overall safety score: 59.13
Oakland ranked 175th in home and community safety, 155th in natural disaster risk, and 114th in financial safety.
Overall safety score: 58.18
Detroit ranked 179th in home and community safety, 41st in natural disaster risk, and 181st in financial safety.
Overall safety score: 56.72
Baton Rouge ranked 182nd in home and community safety, 90th in natural disaster risk, and 158th in financial safety.
Overall safety score: 55.14
San Bernadino ranked 181st in home and community safety, 160th in natural disaster risk, and 154th in financial safety.
Overall safety score: 48.16
Fort Lauderdale was deemed the second least safe city in America, ranking 169th in home and community safety and 166th in financial safety. Factoring into its ranking, the researchers found that Fort Lauderdale has the second most traffic fatalities per capita in the country (only Albuquerque, New Mexico, has more).
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Overall safety score: 44.88
America's least safe city is St. Louis, the researchers found, rating the city's home and community safety 178th out of 182 and 155th in financial safety.
