By Hank Russell
WalletHub has ranked New York 17th in its Safest States in America (2025) report, which recently came out. The states were ranked on a point system in which WalletHub analyzed all 50 states using 52 key indicators of safety, grouped into five categories. These measures range from assaults per capita to the financial losses from climate disasters per resident, as well as economic factors like unemployment.
New York had an overall safety score of 56.19. Vermont had the highest score with 67.22. Rounding out the top five were Massachusetts (66.56), New Hampshire (65.75), Maine (64.69) and Utah (62.88). The lowest score was 36.20 which went to Louisiana.
New York was also 17th in personal and residential safety. Connecticut was the safest, followed by New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa and Maine. Alaska had the lowest levels of personal and residential safety. According to WalletHub, New York has the fourth-highest number of law enforcement employees per capita.
When it comes to financial safety, New York falls down the scale. The Empire State was 22nd in that category and 26th in workplace safety and emergency preparedness.
With all the recent news reports on hideous car crashes and fatalities, New York is actually listed fifth as having the safest roadways, behind Vermont, Minnesota, Iowa and Massachusetts.
“The safest states in America protect their residents from harm in a multitude of different ways, from keeping crime rates low and maintaining safe roadways to having strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “They have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too. In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates.”