Study Names Arizona Cities as Safest in the U.S.

A new study by InsuranceProviders.com has named the 10 safest cities in the US, based on crime rates, natural disaster risk, and span of time between car accidents per capita. Arizona and Colorado account for five of the ten safest cities, with Arizona barely edging out Colorado with three of the safest cities to Colorado's two.

The study looked at information based on three safety factors: crime rate, risk of natural disaster, and driving safety. Crime statistics were compiled from the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics based on violent crime incidents per 100,000 people. All violent crimes, such as assaults, armed robbery and other violent crimes were included in this data set. Information from the United States Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was used to determine how likely a city was to experience a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane, or flood. Driving data from Allstate was used to determine the safest cities in which to drive based on the average number of years between accidents by drivers in each city.

As expected, being located away from coastal areas made a city safer, mostly due to the lower risk of hurricanes and earthquakes. Crime rates, on the other hand, had relatively little influence on a city's safety rating. While a high crime rate certainly knocked down a city’s safety rating, even cities with the highest crime rates compensated by having low rates of natural disasters and car accidents.

Joel Ohman of InsuranceProviders.com emphasizes that the concept of safety cannot be based on only one factor. "To determine the safety of a city, it is important to account for a variety of factors. A city with extremely safe drivers but a high crime rate, for example, may rank lower in overall safety than cities with lower crime rates and less-safe drivers."

Arizona had the most cities on the top 10 list, with Phoenix, Tucson, and Mesa ranked seventh, third, and first, respectively. Colorado came in a close second, with Aurora at number nine, and Colorado Springs at number two. Anaheim, California made the list at number 10, despite its relatively high natural disaster risk, due to a low crime rate and low risk of automobile accidents.

There were also a few surprises in the data:

Las Vegas suburb Henderson, Nevada has the lowest crime rate of any city with a population over 100,000. It is also at low risk of natural disaster, and drivers average 9.3 years between accidents.

St. Paul, Minnesota has a relatively high crime rate, but is the fourth safest city overall. Natural disaster risk is very low, and drivers average a decade between accidents.

Fort Wayne, Indiana has a somewhat higher risk for natural disaster, but their low crime rate and an average 12 years between accidents per capita make it the fifth safest city.

The survey showed, unsurprisingly, that even the safest cities have room for improvement. For example, the safest city, Mesa, Arizona has near-zero risk for natural disaster as well as a low crime rate. But their time between car accidents, at 11.7 years, was still not as good as Fort Wayne. The report for this study can be found at http://www.insuranceproviders.com/the-10-safest-cities-in-the-united-states/

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