The Burlington Free Press has a headline announcing Vermont as the Safest State in the Nation. The accolade follows a release by Wallet Hub, which the story notes “is based on data of assaults per capita, total loss from climate disasters per capita and unemployment rates.”
Whhaaaat?
“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,” a WalletHub analyst said.
Safe is subjective, then, I suppose. Vermont has the second highest rate of homelessness in the nation (California, which they aspire to emulate is first). Vermont has some of the highest overall tax burdens in the nation (your labor is definitely not safe). And I bet, if you ask around, they won’t agree all that much about climate harms (which also do not include the economically unsafe regulatory and tax burdens that come with climate policy).
Vermont’s labor force participation rate has also not entirely returned to its pre-pandemic levels (close, but not there), affecting reported unemployment (if we want to pick more nits).
In other words, congratulations to Vermont for ranking first on Wallet Hub’s Safe States list. It will embolden some to continue making the same mistakes.
New Hampshire came in second, by the way, and while it frequently is first or second when safe means low crime, the questions around climate and labor are similar. Here’s another look at what Wallet Hub is using as a filter.
“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. 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.”
New Hampshire’s downfall appears to be workplace safety. The state ranked 42nd but did well on everything else. Vermont was ranked better for financial, road, and workplace safety. But we did great on crime.
New Hampshire is the second-safest state, in large part because it has very little violence. For example, New Hampshire had the fewest mass shootings between June 2022 and June 2024. The state also has the second-fewest murders and nonnegligent manslaughters per capita, and the fewest aggravated assaults per capita. On top of that, the state is also very safe from nonviolent crime, with the second-fewest thefts per capita.
Over 78% of people in New Hampshire feel that they live in safe neighborhoods, the highest percentage in the country. More than 76% feel that their children go to safe schools, the seventh-highest percentage. Part of this can naturally be attributed to low rates of violence, but there are other factors at play as well, such as the fact that New Hampshire has the most neighborhood watch groups per capita.
There is no mention of how this is all possible despite all those losses of gun laws we like. The ones the Democrats want to replace with the sort Vermont is chasing and that Dems have instituted in the most violent cities in America.
Yeah, well, not everyone knows how safe we are or why, and it all depends on what you look at.
