With many people in the U.S. concerned about their personal safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, now seems a fitting time to report on the safest cities in the country.
Over the course of 2020, personal finance site WalletHub conducted a study to look at which cities Americans feel most protected from dangers, including non-physical threats.
People often feel unsafe when threatened by things that aren’t visible to the naked eye. According to a recent Gallup poll, approximately half of all Americans are “very” or “somewhat” worried about contracting the coronavirus. But aside from COVID, fear can be triggered by things like taking out an unaffordable second mortgage or forgoing health insurance as well.
In order to compile their list of the safest U.S. cities, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 42 key indicators. The site’s data set ranges from COVID-19 cases in the past seven days per 100,000 residents and assaults per capita to the unemployment rate and road quality.
According to their study, Columbia, Md., is the safest city in America and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the least safe. Below is an interactive map, created by WalletHub, that allows you to hover over every ranked city in their study and see where it ranks on the list.
To view the report, and for a full breakdown of WalletHub’s methodology, click here.
This article first appeared on RISMedia’s blog, Housecall.
