One of the Safest Cities in America Is Right Here in New York
Can you guess which city made the top 10 safest places in the United States?
Was it Utica? Albany? Syracuse? Buffalo?
Either way, one of the most secure cities in the continental U.S. is located right here in the Empire State, according to a new study from WalletHub.
This City Is 8th Safest of All...
Who decides a city is "safe" and what factors are used to determine that?
A city's overall safety standing is impacted by natural disasters, mass shootings, traffic accidents and public health crises. Additionally, a city's security is also influenced by how comfortable people feel about their physical and mental safety.
For example, the more secure the people feel in their financial situation and surroundings, the higher these cities score.
Of course, one of the biggest factors that influence the safety and comfort of residents is a city's ability to protect its citizens from harm.
So, how did WalletHub determine that?
WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 41 key indicators of safety. Our data set ranges from traffic fatalities per capita and assaults per capita to the unemployment rate and the percentage of the population that is uninsured.
The website compared municipalities based off their home and community safety, natural disaster risk and financial safety.
In the end, several New York cities made the cut... but only one made the top 10.
New York's Safest City Is...
Let's visit the other cities that landed on the WalletHub roundup.
Buffalo ranked 138th overall, while New York City landed on the space directly above it. Speaking of the Big Apple, that city tied in first place for having the most law enforcement employees per capita.
Also, when it came to ranking cities based on their natural disaster risk level, Buffalo had the fifth lowest ranking.
In 62nd place overall was Rochester, which also made the natural disaster risk roundup with a fourth place finish for lowest overall risk.
That said... which big city in New York made the top 10?
That would be Yonkers!
Why Yonkers?
Yonkers came out on top for securing mild scores across several key factors, such as presence of terrorist attacks, number of mass shootings, assaults per capita, sex offenders per capita, and more.
WalletHub also ranked Yonkers based off other indicators like drug overdose deaths, quality of its roads, homeless population, foreclosure rate, and unemployment rate.
Of course, New York as a whole tended to score favorably when looking into the state's natural disaster risk since this state doesn't normally see extreme weather events like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
However, we do tend to struggle with things like flood, snow, and hail.
Natalie Simpson, Ph.D., Professor of Operations Management from the University at Buffalo School of Management, weighed in on the latest study.
She warned that one of the "biggest threats to public safety is our country’s ongoing mental health crisis." However, her suggestion to remedy the rising issue is a robust police force.
She also says the police shortage is impacting this:
Fewer police officers obviously mean fewer patrols and reduced presence within a community, which can invite crime. However, one of the most worrisome results of a police shortage is the potential rush to get newly recruited officers working on the front lines, to fill those gaps.
She adds police should be more transparent with the community they serve, saying, "It is important and desirable that a police force be representative of the local community."
What do you think? Do you agree New York is one of the safest states in the country, and that Yonkers deserves to be called one of the safest cities in America?
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