15 safest cities in America for 2018

You and your property & casualty insurance clients encounter hazards every day, some serious, others rare and minor. Most of us fear certain kinds of risks or hazards more than others. According to Gallup, four in 10 Americans "fear being a victim of a mass shooting," while 24% of U.S. adults are concerned about terrorism. Many also worry about falling victim to hate crimes or sexual assault. Natural disasters are often a dreaded threat. The list goes on, and these sentiments often are expressed in response to recent headlines. But people can feel unsafe in other ways, too. Besides the types of hazards that can cause bodily injury or property damage, taking out an unaffordable second mortgage, unemployment or even visiting unsecured websites are also ways people run into danger. At the top of the list of worries is cybercrime, which 71% of Americans worry about.

Risk based on where we live

No one can avoid all danger, however, and we take on a certain level of risk based on where we choose to live. Some cities are simply better at protecting their residents from harm. To determine where Americans can feel most secure — in more than one sense — the personal finance website, WalletHub, compared 182 cities (including at least two of the most populated cities in each state) across three key dimensions:

1. Home & community safety.
2. Natural disaster risk.
3. Financial safety.

WalletHub evaluated each of the above-referenced dimensions across the following 39 comprehensive key indicators of safety:

1. Presence of terrorist attacks.
2. Number of mass shootings.
3. Murders & non-negligent manslaughters per capita.
4. Forcible rapes per capita.
5. Assaults per capita.
6. Thefts per capita.
7. Sex offenders per capita.
8. Law-enforcement employees per capita.
9. Active firefighters per capita.
10. EMTs & paramedics per capita.
11. Hate crimes per capita.
12. Share of sheltered homeless.
13. Perception of safety (safety walking alone during daylight/night).
14. Drug poisoning deaths per capita.
15. Traffic fatalities per capita.
16. Pedestrian fatalities per capita.
17. Road quality.
18. Earthquake risk level.
19. Flood risk level.
20. Hail risk level.
21. Hurricane storm-surge risk level.
22. Tornado risk level.
23. Wildfire risk level.
24. Unemployment rate.
25. Underemployment rate.
26. Share of uninsured population.
27. Foreclosure rate.
28. Median credit score.
29. Debt-to-income ratio.
30. Poverty rate.
31. Fraud & other complaints per capita.
32. Identity-theft complaints per capita.
33. Share of unbanked households.
34. Job security.
35. Employment growth.
36. Share of households with emergency savings.
37. Retirement plan access & participation rate.
38. Personal bankruptcy filings per capita.
39. Share of underwater homes.

We certainly cannot avoid every possible risk. However, it pays to be proactive and mitigate risk where we can by having the appropriate insurance. The photo gallery above lists 2018's top 15 safest U.S. cities, according to WalletHub's analysis. Related: 15 U.S. cities with the best drivers 10 U.S. cities with the highest & lowest natural-disaster risk level 10 worst states for pedestrian deaths