Southwest low on list of safest states; Northeast at the top

Not so much.

Issues such as high crime rates landed California at No. 38 in overall safety and 47th among the 50 states for personal and residential safety. California also ranked toward the very bottom for financial and road safety in WalletHub’s new “Safest States in America” study. The state managed to do a little better in its overall score because of its rankings in workplace safety and emergency preparedness.

Colorado did worse than California in the overall ranking, landing at No. 44. 

And the rest of the Southwest, with the exception of No. 5-ranked Utah, didn’t score high on the list, although some states were clearly seen as safer than others. 

Utah did well on the list thanks to its low crime, said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub writer and analyst who lives in Columbia, S.C. It was the only Southwestern state to appear in the top 10 of the list, where the four safest states, in the order of their rankings, were Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

Other than the recent Charlie Kirk assassination at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah hasn’t seen any national crime stories since murderer Gary Gilmore, Lupo told The Center Square this week. Gilmore received the death penalty and was executed in 1977.

“It’s a pretty conservative state,” Lupo said, noting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, has seen success in getting Utah laws passed and promoting family values.

And Utah scored high on emergency preparedness and road safety and very high in financial safety, Lupo said. “Utah residents have a history of being frugal with money, being financially savvy. There’s not a lot of debt and foreclosure.”

The New England states topped the list because of their low crime rates, safe roads and safe workplaces, Lupo said. "And other than occasional snowfall, there are not too many disasters like in the Midwest or on the West Coast, where earthquakes and wildfires are an issue."

Landing around the middle of the WalletHub list were several Southwestern states: Arizona at No. 21; New Mexico, No. 27, and Nevada, No. 30.

Besides high crime rates and natural disasters, California has seen a lot of financial fraud, Lupo said.

Another take on California comes from Steve Smith, a senior fellow with Pacific Research Institute, a think tank based in Pasadena.

Smith wasn't surprised by the Golden State's dismal ranking on crime in the WalletHub report.

“We saw a huge increase in aggravated assaults with firearms,” Smith told The Center Square this week. 

He noted California experienced 29,179 aggravated assaults with a deadly weapon in 2023, up by 62% from 17,908 in 2018. He credited the state’s trauma response and medical system for limiting the state’s murders to 1,892 in 2023, which was down from 2,206 in 2022, as listed in a Pacific Research Institute report.

“Most of our crimes are occurring in large cities, including in Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Smith, who lives in Santa Cruz County.

Crimes are being committed by convicts being released early from prisons and jails, Smith said.

He cited a CalMatters report about 14,800 people who were released between April 2020 and December 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of them, approximately “4,600 returned to prison, which is remarkably high recidivism. We are very bad at predicting who will commit crimes once they’re released.”

In response to the crime rates, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36 last year to make certain thefts and drug charges felonies for repeat offenders, meaning more time in prison. The measure also provides treatment for repeat drug offenders. 

But Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t funding Prop. 36 properly with only $100 million in the state budget, Smith said. “He’s thumbing his nose at 68% of voters statewide.”

Although Colorado did worse than California in its overall safety rating, it did slightly better than the Golden State for personal and residential safety. It ranked No. 45 in the nation for that, but Smith noted, “Outside of the Denver area and Aurora, Colorado is a fairly low crime state.”

Colorado saw its better scores in other categories, although a couple were near the bottom of the list: No. 17 in financial safety, No. 38 in road safety and No. 42 in workplace safety.

Elsewhere in the Southwest, Arizona, which was ranked 21st overall, saw a higher ranking, 17th, for workplace safety. It fared less well in other categories: 36th for personal and residential safety, 31st for financial safety and 48th for road safety. Only No. 50-ranked Mississippi and No. 49-ranked New Mexico got lower scores for road safety.

There’s a high number of traffic fatalities in Arizona, Lupo told The Center Square. “And because it’s a border state, you have folks driving uninsured or without a license, who may not be citizens.”

Ranking worse than Arizona and even California for personal and residential safety was Nevada - 48th in the nation. The silver lining for the Silver State was its overall ranking at No. 30, helped by its ranking as the 11th best state for workplace safety.

Crime is a different story. Nevada has long stretches of rural areas where there isn’t enough law enforcement, Lupo said.

The WalletHub analyst and writer added he wasn’t surprised that as home to Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada ranked 49th for financial safety. “People find themselves in debt after too many trips to the casino.”