Connecticut was ranked the nation’s seventh safest state to live in by personal financing social network WalletHub.
The study not only referred to protection from violence and crime, but workplace safety, emergency preparedness, home and community stability, road safety and financial security as well.
To determine each state’s ranking, WalletHub analyzed 20 metrics in five categories — financial safety, road safety, workplace safety, natural disasters, and home and community safety.
Five-question survey: How safe do you feel in Connecticut?
Financial safety
WalletHub determined that Connecticut is the 37th most financially safe state, based on its:
- Percentage of population lacking health insurance coverage: 9.1%.
- Unemployment rate: 6.6%.
- Foreclosure rate: 2.1%.
Minnesota was ranked the No. 1 safest state in terms of financial safety, while Nevada, which had the highest unemployment rate in the country, was ranked the least safe.
Road safety
Connecticut was ranked the fourth safest state in terms of road safety, based on its:
- Number of fatalities per 100 million motor vehicle miles of travel: 0.89.
- Number of DUIs per 100,000 residents, based on number of arrests: 228.46.
- Pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 residents, including pedacyclists: 1.09.
Massachusetts was ranked the safest state in road safety, while Montana, which had the most fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, was ranked the least safe.
Workplace safety
With the fewest fatal occupational injuries per total employees in the nation — 1.65 per 100,000 employees, a 158.60 injury and illness rate per 10,000 full-time workers and an average of 11 days lost due to occupational injuries and illnesses, Connecticut ranked 15th safest in terms of workplace safety.
Rhode Island was ranked the No. 1 safest state for workers, while North Dakota, which had the most fatal occupational injuries in the nation, ranked last.
Natural disasters
According to WalletHub, Connecticut had 11 climate disasters in past decades that caused $1 billion in damage and an estimated $380 in property losses from natural disasters per capita — making the state the 20th safest in the country in terms of natural disasters.
Hawaii was ranked No. 1 safest, while Oklahoma, which had the highest estimated property loss from climate disasters in the country, was ranked the least safe.
Community safety
WalletHub determined that Connecticut is the second safest state in terms of home and community safety, based on its:
- Total law enforcement employees per 100,000 residents: 288.
- Number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters per 100,000 residents: 2.
- Number of forcible rapes per 100,000 residents: 27.
- Number of assaults per 100,000 residents: 136.
- Number of thefts per 100,000 residents: 2,074.
- Number of sex offenders per 100,000 residents: 160.
- Number of drug abuses per 100,000 residents, based on number of arrests: 254.
- Suicide rate: 9.19.
A bullying rate was also used to determine each state’s home and community safety ranking. In Connecticut, 21.9% of high school students had been bullied on school property and 17.5% were electronically bullied, according to WalletHub.
New York, which has the third highest number of law enforcement employees in the country, was ranked the safest state in this category, while Arkansas was ranked the least safe.
Washington, D.C. had the lowest bullying incidents rate in the country, while Montana and Idaho tied for highest.
Sources
WalletHub used data from the following sources to create its rankings:
- U.S. Census Bureau.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- National Climatic Data Center.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Verisk Analytics.
- Stopbullying.gov.
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
- Crime Victims Center.
- CoreLogic.
Click here to view WalletHub's ranking of 2015's Safest States to Live In.