Safest states in the United States research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to survey the safest states for 2025. The data comes from the FBI Crime Explorer, and the report is not a testament to the effectiveness of local law enforcement. This report reflects our tenth time ranking the safest states in America.
The safest state in the United States is New Hampshire based on our analysis of FBI crime data.
The state with least violent crime per capita is Maine with 102.5 violent crimes per 100k people.
The state with least property crime per capita is Idaho with 809.5 property crimes per 100k people.
The state with least murders per capita is Hawaii with 1.4 murders per 100k people.
The most dangerous state in the United States is New Mexico.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | Summary
Odds are likely that you, or someone you know, has not been the victim of a crime in the past year. That’s because, despite what you hear on the news, America has been incredibly safe over the past two decades.
It’s just a matter of determining which states are more crime-free than others.
The safest states are the best states in America to raise kids and excellent places to retire. Because if crime is really low, everyone wants to be there.
The states below all have spaces so safe you’ll sleep soundly no matter the surroundings.
The 10 Safest States In The United States For 2025
What is the safest state in America for 2025? The safest state in America is New Hampshire according to the most recent FBI data based on an index of property and violent crimes per capita.
The most dangerous state to live in America? New Mexico. More on that later.
For more reading, check out:
The 10 Safest States To Live In America For 2025
1. New Hampshire
Population: 1,402,054
Violent Crime Per Capita: 107 (Second safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 888 (Second safest)
And where’s the safest state in America? Is it much of a surprise to hear that it’s New Hampshire?
It’s official: just about the entire New England area north of New York State is safe. In the last reporting year, there were only 26 murders for the whole year, which is astoundingly low. The leading state, California, saw nearly 100 times that number.
People in New Hampshire live in small towns and rural areas but are quite educated, and most have great jobs. The schools are highly rated, too. These factors also play a part in making New Hampshire a safe place.
Mostly, you only have to worry about idiots who text and drive in the snow. Seems like the biggest crime here is NOT being an annoying Patriots fan.
If you live in New Hampshire, you’ve certainly got it made.
2. Maine
Population: 1,395,722
Violent Crime Per Capita: 102 (First safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,120 (Fourth safest)
Even if you’ve never been to Maine, you’re probably not surprised it’s our second safest state to live in America. Maine is the place to be if you want to avoid murder, rape, and other violent crimes. The colder weather may chill people out.
In Maine, there were less than .001 violent crimes per capita in the last reporting year. To put that crime rate into perspective, there were .008 violent crimes per person in Alaska.
Of great importance to Mainers’ strong sense of community with the motto, “What happens to you, happens to me.” Good and bad. They’re all in it together, which really helps keep crime to a minimum.
3. Rhode Island
Population: 1,095,962
Violent Crime Per Capita: 167 (Fourth safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,120 (Fifth safest)
Making our way through the northeast, we come to Rhode Island.
Sure, it’s a small state, and the number of property crimes is higher than the other states on this list, but overall, you could find much more dangerous places to live.
Rhode Island only saw 1,297 robberies over the year, about 1.5 a day. Does that make you jealous of where you live?
Many of Rhode Island’s safest cities report no more than two murders a year, and 80% of Rhode Island’s cities reported no murders. And robberies are limited to just a tiny part of the state for the most part.
4. Idaho
Population: 1,964,726
Violent Crime Per Capita: 234 (13th safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 809 (First safest)
Is it a surprise that Idaho is the fourth safest state to live in the US of A?
Probably not.
Idaho might get a knock for being a relatively boring place, but talk to the people that live there — when it’s quiet, it’s safe. Idaho saw only about 3 murders a month, on average, which is far less than the national average. Additionally, there were only 2,767 burglaries in the last reporting year, which might sound like a lot, but only averages to about 125 a week for the entire state.
In lots of parts of Idaho, people don’t even bother to lock their doors at all. Not too long ago, Boise was named as the 9th safest city in the entire world. If your cow shows up missing in Idaho, it’s probably just at the neighbors house.
That sure puts things into perspective.
5. Wyoming
Population: 584,057
Violent Crime Per Capita: 191 (Sixth safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,469 (Ninth safest)
Our next stop on our safe tour of America brings us to Wyoming.
Sure, there are only about a half million people in the Cowboy State, and people are spaced out much more than in places like Florida and California. But look at New Mexico. There’s some wide open spaces there, too, and that’s the most dangerous place in the nation.
Only 717 people were the victim of an aggravated assault in Wyoming. This means there’s an excellent chance you can walk around at night here without having to watch your back. In fact, you might have a better chance of being trampled by a bison than beaten by a mugger.
In Wyoming, people don’t steal. It’s a Wyoming thing. Unless you want to take some leftovers from a neighborhood trash can. Most Wyomingans would be cool with that.
6. Connecticut
Population: 3,617,176
Violent Crime Per Capita: 150 (Third safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,558 (15th safest)
Right next door to Rhode Island is the safe city of Connecticut.
Most Americans might think of Connecticut as a wealthy place, and for the most part, they’d be right. Does a relatively affluent group of people commit less crime? Apparently so.
There were only 4,623 reported robberies in Connecticut for the entire last reporting year, which is well below the national average. Additionally, Connecticut saw 10,561 reported car thefts that same year, too.
That’s crazy low.
7. New Jersey
Population: 9,290,841
Violent Crime Per Capita: 221 (Ninth safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,521 (11th safest)
Coming in as our seventh state state in America is…New Jersey? No way.
Yes, that’s correct. This goes to show that just because people are packed on top of one another doesn’t mean they have to act uncivilized.
You might be shocked to learn that Jersey has the 11th lowest property crime rate in the country. Suburban and countryside areas are very safe along with most Jersey Shore towns.
If you’ve ever been to Jersey, you know, most of the crime is packed into places like Camden and Newark. Here, you might have to really think about who your friends are, and you might find that meth is the leisure activity of choice.
But, you take those two cities out of the equation, and you’ve got an even more really awesome safe place to live.
8. West Virginia
Population: 1,770,071
Violent Crime Per Capita: 265 (16th safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,195 (Sixth safest)
9. Mississippi
Population: 2,939,690
Violent Crime Per Capita: 202 (Seventh safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,587 (17th safest)
10. Kentucky
Population: 4,526,154
Violent Crime Per Capita: 224 (Tenth safest)
Property Crime Per Capita: 1,552 (14th safest)
This stop on our safe tour of America brings us to Kentucky. I’m sure many people in the South might be like, “That’s crazy,” but when you look at the data, it’s hard to argue against.
You’d have to drive to Iowa or Pennsylvania to get to a safer place outside Kentucky. Kentuckians are a pretty lucky group of people, seeing as how they rank 14th for the number of robberies, car thefts, and identity thefts each year.
Only 12,880 cars were stolen in the state, and only 10,521 robberies occurred here in the last reporting year. While it’s sad that this is a low number, for America, it is.
Methodology: How we used FBI data to determine the safest states
To rank the safest American states, we used Saturday Night Science mixed with data from the FBI. The safest states are those where violent and property crimes happen at rates below the national average.
Using the most recent FBI crime data, we used calculated the follow criteria for each state:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
We then ranked each state from 1 to 50 for the two criteria, with a #1 ranking being the safest for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Safe Index.”
Finally, we ranked every state on the “Safe Index,” with the lowest index being the safest in America for 2025.
Here’s a visualization of the criteria:
This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. This is the tenth time we’ve ranked the safest states in America.
Summary: The Safest States In The Country
If you’re looking at American states where murders, rapes and robberies happen at a much lower rate than average, this is an accurate ranking.
The safest states in the US are New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Idaho, Wyoming, Connecticut, New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
If you’re also curious enough, here are the most dangerous states to live in America, according to Saturday Night Science.
Here’s a quick look at the most dangerous states for 2025:
- New Mexico
- Louisiana
- Tennessee
For more reading, check out:
Crime Data By State In The United States For 2025
Rank | State | Population | Property Crime | Violent Crime |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New Hampshire | 1,402,054 | 888 | 107 |
2 | Maine | 1,395,722 | 1,120 | 102 |
3 | Rhode Island | 1,095,962 | 1,120 | 167 |
4 | Idaho | 1,964,726 | 809 | 234 |
5 | Wyoming | 584,057 | 1,469 | 191 |
6 | Connecticut | 3,617,176 | 1,558 | 150 |
7 | New Jersey | 9,290,841 | 1,521 | 221 |
8 | West Virginia | 1,770,071 | 1,195 | 265 |
9 | Mississippi | 2,939,690 | 1,587 | 202 |
10 | Kentucky | 4,526,154 | 1,552 | 224 |
11 | Hawaii | 1,435,138 | 1,669 | 187 |
12 | Iowa | 3,207,004 | 1,440 | 279 |
13 | Massachusetts | 7,001,399 | 1,100 | 314 |
14 | Wisconsin | 5,910,955 | 1,216 | 288 |
15 | Utah | 3,417,734 | 1,631 | 232 |
16 | Florida | 22,610,726 | 1,516 | 290 |
17 | Pennsylvania | 12,961,683 | 1,579 | 266 |
18 | Vermont | 647,464 | 1,793 | 210 |
19 | Virginia | 8,715,698 | 1,658 | 236 |
20 | Indiana | 6,862,199 | 1,543 | 332 |
21 | Minnesota | 5,737,915 | 1,702 | 261 |
22 | Ohio | 11,785,935 | 1,692 | 286 |
23 | South Dakota | 919,318 | 1,618 | 349 |
24 | Nebraska | 1,978,379 | 1,976 | 229 |
25 | Illinois | 12,549,689 | 1,720 | 310 |
26 | North Dakota | 783,926 | 1,941 | 267 |
27 | Michigan | 10,037,261 | 1,546 | 457 |
28 | Alabama | 5,108,468 | 1,699 | 403 |
29 | Georgia | 11,029,227 | 1,823 | 351 |
30 | New York | 19,571,216 | 1,798 | 389 |
31 | Delaware | 1,031,890 | 1,880 | 380 |
32 | Arizona | 7,431,344 | 1,796 | 408 |
33 | North Carolina | 10,835,491 | 2,064 | 391 |
34 | Montana | 1,132,812 | 1,833 | 441 |
35 | Oregon | 4,233,358 | 2,590 | 326 |
36 | Maryland | 6,180,253 | 2,071 | 426 |
37 | Oklahoma | 4,053,824 | 2,148 | 413 |
38 | Kansas | 2,940,546 | 2,093 | 429 |
39 | Texas | 30,503,301 | 2,238 | 406 |
40 | Washington | 7,812,880 | 2,886 | 357 |
41 | Alaska | 733,406 | 1,877 | 726 |
42 | Missouri | 6,196,156 | 2,095 | 458 |
43 | Nevada | 3,194,176 | 2,516 | 416 |
44 | South Carolina | 5,373,555 | 2,193 | 471 |
45 | California | 38,965,193 | 2,325 | 508 |
46 | Arkansas | 3,067,732 | 2,228 | 619 |
47 | Colorado | 5,877,610 | 2,878 | 473 |
48 | Tennessee | 7,126,489 | 2,361 | 628 |
49 | Louisiana | 4,573,749 | 2,630 | 548 |
50 | New Mexico | 2,114,371 | 2,887 | 749 |