Juneau, Alaska, ranked as the safest city among 182 US cities in a WalletHub comparison, while New Orleans came last. The rankings combine measures of home and community safety, natural-disaster risk and financial security, showing that a city’s standing reflects more than crime and traffic deaths: poverty, unemployment and exposure to hazards also count.
How WalletHub assessed 182 cities
The comparison covered the 150 most populous US cities, along with at least two of the largest cities in each state. WalletHub evaluated 41 measures across three categories: home and community safety, natural-disaster risk and financial security.
Safety measures included crime rates, traffic and pedestrian fatalities, and emergency-response personnel per capita. The natural-disaster category drew on risk indices for earthquakes, tornadoes and wildfires. Financial security included poverty and unemployment rates, as well as identity-theft complaints per capita. The analysis used data from the US Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Juneau leads Warwick and Overland Park
Juneau took the top spot overall. It ranked 46th for home and community safety, fourth for financial security and first for natural-disaster risk. The city had the lowest murder and pedestrian fatality rates, and no recorded terrorist attacks or related incidents over the past decade. Its flood and tornado risks were the second-lowest in the country. Juneau also had the 21st-lowest share of residents living below the poverty line.
Warwick, Rhode Island, placed second, ranking ninth for home and community safety, fifth for natural-disaster risk and 46th for financial security. It had the fourth-lowest number of aggravated assaults per capita and the sixth-lowest number of thefts.
Overland Park, Kansas, ranked third, with fourth place for home and community safety and seventh for financial security. Its natural-disaster risk ranking was much lower, at 138th. By June 2026, the Kansas City area had received 88 tornado warnings. Overland Park, however, recorded the 19th-lowest pedestrian fatality rate and 15th-lowest traffic fatality rate. Its unemployment rate ranked 14th-lowest, while its share of residents in poverty was the third-lowest.
Two Vermont cities make the top five
Burlington, Vermont, ranked fourth, placing third for natural-disaster risk, 24th for financial security and 43rd for home and community safety. Nearby South Burlington came fifth. It also ranked third for natural-disaster risk, with sixth place for financial security and 51st for home and community safety.
The rest of the top 10 were Virginia Beach, Virginia; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Casper, Wyoming; Boise, Idaho; and Yonkers, New York. Virginia Beach ranked 22nd, 10th and 55th across the three categories, respectively; Cedar Rapids ranked 10th, 23rd and 42nd. Casper placed ninth for financial security, 19th for natural-disaster risk and 32nd for home and community safety. Boise ranked fifth for financial security, 33rd for home and community safety and 41st for natural-disaster risk. Yonkers had the third-highest home and community safety ranking, but stood 108th for financial security and 59th for natural-disaster risk.
New Orleans and Baton Rouge finish at the bottom
The 10 lowest-ranked cities, from 173rd to 182nd, were St. Louis, Cleveland, Houston, Jacksonville, Detroit, Philadelphia, Memphis, Baltimore, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. St. Louis ranked 177th for home and community safety and 146th for financial security, but 34th for natural-disaster risk. Cleveland placed 74th for natural-disaster risk, 153rd for financial security and 175th for home and community safety.
Houston ranked 163rd for financial security, 170th for natural-disaster risk and 171st for home and community safety. Jacksonville’s respective rankings were 166th, 177th and 170th. Detroit stood 173rd for home and community safety and 67th for natural-disaster risk. Its financial security ranking was last, at 182nd.
Philadelphia ranked 176th, 137th and 159th across the three categories. Memphis was 181st for financial security, ahead of only Detroit, and 179th for home and community safety; its natural-disaster risk ranking was 60th. Baltimore placed 180th for home and community safety, 174th for financial security and 106th for natural-disaster risk.
Baton Rouge ranked second to last overall, placing 181st for home and community safety, 130th for natural-disaster risk and 144th for financial security. New Orleans finished last overall and also ranked last for home and community safety. It placed 172nd for financial security and 104th for natural-disaster risk, despite being a hurricane-prone city. The results reflect a combined set of measures, with cities often performing quite differently across community safety, disaster exposure and financial security.