15 Safest States for 2008
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Tom Uhlenbrock, Getty Images
No Need to Lock Your Doors?
The results of CQ Press's annual Crime State Rankings are in. Join us as we reveal which 15 states were ranked as the safest for 2008.
And get ready for a surprise! After being in the top spot 9 of the past 10 years, North Dakota has been knocked from its throne. Click through our gallery to see who took its "safety" crown.
Next: The No. 1 Safest State -
Hector Mata, Getty Images
No 1: New Hampshire
New Hampshire is ranked No. 1 for the first time thanks to impressively low crime across the board. It boasts the nation's lowest murder rate and second-lowest aggravated assault and burglary rates.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50 states)
(1 = Worst, 50 = Best)
Assault: 49
Burglary: 49
Murder: 50
Motor Vehicle Theft: 47
Rape: 39
Robbery: 43
Next: No. 2 Safest State -
No. 2: Maine
The Pine Tree state has been ranked in the top three each of the past 15 years. It has the lowest assault rate in the U.S.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 50
Burglary: 38
Murder: 45
Motor Vehicle Theft: 48
Rape: 40
Robbery: 44
Next: No. 3 Safest State -
Scott Olson, Getty Images
No. 3: North Dakota
After dominating the Safest State list for the past decade, the Peace Garden state suffers its lowest ranking since 1996. Its rape rate is mainly to blame.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 48
Burglary: 46
Murder: 48
Motor Vehicle Theft: 45
Rape: 28
Robbery: 50
Next: No. 4 Safest State -
Steve Northup, Time Life Pictures | Getty
No. 4: Vermont
It's nice to know there are some places left in the world where folks don't have to live under lock and key. Vermont was the safest state in 2003 along with 1994 & 1996.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 47
Burglary: 36
Murder: 41
Motor Vehicle Theft: 49
Rape: 42
Robbery: 46
Next: No. 5 Safest State -
Beth Gauper, St. Paul Pioneer Press / MCT
No. 5: South Dakota
As one of the safest states to live in, South Dakota suffers from a shockingly high incidence of rape, but ranks in the top 5 in all other categories.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 46
Burglary: 48
Murder: 49
Motor Vehicle Theft: 50
Rape: 9
Robbery: 48
Next: No. 6 Safest State -
Landon Nordeman, Getty Images
No. 6: Wyoming
Wyoming is a great example of a state with low income and low economic growth that does not fall prey to major crime.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 30
Burglary: 43
Murder: 46
Motor Vehicle Theft: 46
Rape: 36
Robbery: 49
Next: No. 7 Safest State -
Andrew Schneider, St. Louis Post Dispatch / MC
No. 7: Montana
Some credit Montana's low crime rate to the high level of gun ownership. Since most criminals are looking for easy targets, this may keep some in line. The Treasure State has lowest burglary rate in the country.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 28
Burglary: 50
Murder: 42 (tie)
Motor Vehicle Theft: 41
Rape: 31
Robbery: 47
Next: No. 8 Safest State -
Beth Gauper, St. Paul Pioneer Press / MCT
No. 8: Iowa
The Hawkeye State pulls in the No. 8 ranking for the fourth year in a row thanks to above average scores in all six crime categories.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 26
Burglary: 30
Murder: 42 (tie)
Motor Vehicle Theft: 42
Rape: 33
Robbery: 42
Next: No. 9 Safest State -
Cassandra Shie
No. 9: Idaho
Idaho is a regular on most of the best places to live lists published from various media venues, thanks to its much touted city, Boise. But they need to work on that rape statistic.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 31
Burglary: 37
Murder: 38
Motor Vehicle Theft: 44
Rape: 13
Robbery: 35
Next: No. 10 Safest State -
Beth Gauper, St. Paul Pioneer Press/ MCT
No. 10: Wisconsin
Wisconsin consistently ranks well below the national crime average.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 38
Burglary: 40
Murder: 33
Motor Vehicle Theft: 36
Rape: 47
Robbery: 28
Next: No. 11 Safest State -
Romain Blanquart, Detroit Free Press / MCT
No. 11: Connecticut
Connecticut is the state where many New Yorkers relocate when it's time to raise a family and give in to the hour-plus commute to the Big Apple. A plus: low levels of assault, burglary and rape.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 44
Burglary: 44
Murder: 32
Motor Vehicle Theft: 28
Rape: 48
Robbery: 22
Next: No. 12 Safest State -
Brad Clift, MCT
No. 12: Rhode Island
The Ocean State improves four spots this year to score the second best gain after Washington state thanks to strong rankings in all categories except auto theft.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 45
Burglary: 39
Murder: 37
Motor Vehicle Theft: 22
Rape: 38
Robbery: 37
Next: No. 13 Safest State -
Kristen Jackson, Seattle Times/MCT
No. 13: Utah
Home to one of the safest cities in America, Orem, the Beehive State maintains its No. 13 ranking that it also held last year.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 42
Burglary: 33
Murder: 42 (tie)
Motor Vehicle Theft: 25
Rape: 21
Robbery: 40
Next: No. 14 Safest State -
Bob Downing, Akron Beacon Journal/MCT
No. 14: West Virginia
West Virginia is seeing an influx of commuters from the Washington D.C. metro region (including Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland) for its low crime rate and more affordable land and housing.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 27
Burglary: 28
Murder: 29
Motor Vehicle Theft: 39
Rape: 45
Robbery: 41
Next: No. 15 Safest State -
Cassandra Shie, AOL
No. 15: Virginia
The Old Dominion State improves one position for the third year in a row and holds its best ranking since 2001. It has low crime in all categories except burglaries where it has the fifth worst rate in the nation.
Rankings in Crime (out of 50)
Assault: 39
Burglary: 45
Murder: 23
Motor Vehicle Theft: 40
Rape: 43
Robbery: 27
· Buy Full Crime Rankings Report
Next: Most Dangerous States -
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Most Dangerous States
The two most populace states in the U.S., California and New York, don't have the best crime rates, but they are not among the top most dangerous states. See which states do have the highest crime rates.
15 Most Dangerous States in U.S.
· Buy Full Crime Rankings Report
Next: Safest Cities in AmericaRelated Links:
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Julie Malakie, AP
Safest Cities in America
You've seen the safest states in the America. Now see which cities have the lowest crime rates. Cities in California, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Massachusetts dominate the top of the most recent CQ Press rankings.
25 Safest Cities in America
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Recent Comments
Jbond1038nc18 12:55:08 PM May 05 2008
All the most dangerous cities have large black populations.
KayakMac08 04:17:12 PM May 03 2008
The real significant factor here is not climate or latitude; It's the cultural and racial differences that distinguish the north from the south. I believe these factors are responsible for the health and safety differences. Poverty, obesity, and racism often lead to self-fulfilling cycles of more poverty, more obesity, and continued racism. Unfortunately, it's not human nature to rise above one's circumstances.
gottogetit911 01:32:50 AM May 02 2008
wuts up with all the **** statistics. cmon its only **** if you dont like it. hahaha
AAgsoNC 02:07:06 PM Apr 26 2008
these safest staes are all northen states where the climate is COLD, hummm, i wonder who doesnt like to live in these areas? hummmmmm
AAgsoNC 02:06:21 PM Apr 26 2008
this is really too funny and kinda sad at the same time, note which states are the safest, you will see they are the states that are the mostly northern and have very cold climates, hummmm, who does like to live in these climates? hummmmmm
VaPrevent 11:57:07 AM Apr 24 2008
I contacted CQ Press about an error in the data that you had for the Virginia data for the 15 Safest States Ranking. You corrected Virginia's Burglary rank form 5 to 45. However, the commentary about Virginia still states: It has low crime in all categories except burglaries where it has the fifth worst rate in the nation.
Flytristar 12:25:17 PM Apr 23 2008
If you ever watched C Span when all those boobs were present you might have noticed a very heavy sprinkling of so called african americans. This number will increase and with the upcoming possibility of one in the white house, in a short number of years, this country will be in the control of africa and these are muslims. Did you ever hear of someone named Cassius Clay? You got it!!
Mom2threewife21 12:03:44 PM Apr 23 2008
WingMd 07:23:37 AM Apr 22 2008
You are a class A idiot. Gimme illegals over the likes of you any day!
Top complaints:
1. they take our jobs= pick up a newspaper tart and start flipping. THOUSANDS of open jobs.. are they beneath you?
2. they don't pay taxes= yes, yes they do. Be it through a tax id that is super easy to obtain and use or through gas tax, sales tax etc.
It baffles me how anyone can stake claim to a country when at one point our ancestors all came in a way that today would be called 'illegal'
GROW UP!
Pearcya 11:50:37 AM Apr 23 2008
Millions can be spent to try to get the country out of the economic slump,but the secret word as we all know is oil.If that don't get under control we haven,t seen crime yet as we know it. roger
So relax now 09:48:07 AM Apr 23 2008
notice that most of the safest states have the longest, dreariest winters. Criminals head south and victims stay indoors.
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