Most Dangerous States In America

Preliminary FBI data indicates that law enforcement agencies throughout the nation showed an overall increase of 1.7 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention for the first 6 months of 2015, when compared with figures reported for the same time in 2014. The following list is based on several studies. One of them was done by the personal finance site WalletHub. It issued a report considering 25 key metrics across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The latest official FBI data about crime in the U.S., also compared with the numbers from 2013 have also been taken into account.

Close to 3 million people live in Mississippi, the most dangerous state, according to WalletHub, owing to low road, workplace and community safety rank. Mississippi also has the second highest murder rate per 100,000 people in 2014 – 8.6, according to FBI data. The rates of both violent and non-violent crimes are up since 2013. The Magnolia State is also fourth in the most fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel.

Oklahoma is on the list, because of its extremely low "safety from natural disasters" rank. It is the lowest – 51 – in the WalletHub analysis. The state's overall safety score is 35.29, the second lowest. The Sooner State is eighth in the "highest estimated property losses from climate disasters." Crime rate of 406 per 100,000 population put Oklahoma in the 14th spot of the most dangerous state, according to FBI reports.  

WalletHub says Alaska, a state with just about 736,000 people, is the third most dangerous state in the country, while the FBI puts it in first place with a crime rate of 635.8 per 100,000 people. The Last Frontier also has the fourth highest number of assaults per capita and the third highest number of fatal occupation injuries per total employees, according to WalletHub.

The Land of Enchantment, which is home to a little more than 2 million residents, is in the Top 5 dangerous states in the country in both studies. [See: Most Dangerous Vacation Destinations] Both WalletHub and FBI data put it in fourth place with an overall safety score of 36.94 and a crime rate of 597.4, respectively. The numbers of robberies and car thefts are significantly higher in 2014 than the previous year. New Mexico has the fourth highest unemployment rate and the fourth most assaults per capita, according to WalletHub.

Tennessee, with more than 6.5 million people, was named the fifth most dangerous state by WalletHub. The Volunteer State has the second highest number of assaults. FBI data shows that the violent crime rate for 2014 was 608.4 per 100,000 people, ranking the state as the third most dangerous one in the U.S. Aggravated assaults are more common there than in any other state -453 for every 100,000 residents is almost double the national rate of 232.5.

South Carolina is home to about 4.9 million people and is ranked as the fifth most dangerous state in the country by WalletHub, because of very low scores in the community, financial and road safety categories. The state has the most fatalities per 100 million vehicle travel miles. The violent crime rate of the Palmetto State is 497.7. Poverty is closely associated with violent crime, and about 18 percent of residents live below the poverty line, the ninth highest rate in the U.S.

Louisiana was named the seventh most dangerous state by WalletHub and the sixth based on FBI data with a violent crime rate of 514.7 per 100,000 people. The Creole State has the fifth highest number of car crash fatalities and the third highest number of murders and manslaughters. Louisiana had the highest murder rate in 2014 – 10.3, according to the FBI.

Arkansas was ranked the eighth most dangerous state by WalletHub, but No. 1 in terms of little to no home and community safety. The Natural State, home to more than 2.9 million people, is in the Top 5 for number of forcible rapes and number of sex offenders. The state's overall violent crime rate is the ninth highest in the U.S. as 480.1 per 100,000 people.

Missouri, which has approximately 6 million residents, was ranked the 10th most dangerous state by WalletHub, and the 11th most dangerous by the FBI because of its violent crime rate which is 442.9. Missouri had the fourth highest number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters. The Show Me State has the second highest bullying-incidents rate.

Nevada was named the ninth most dangerous state by WalletHub and the second worst as per FBI data that show the violent crime rate at 635.6, the second highest of any state. [See: The World's Most Dangerous Cruise Ports] The murder rate is the sixth highest, according to 2014 numbers. The most frequent crimes in the Silver State are robberies with about 209.7 reported a year for every 100,000 residents, the highest robbery rate in the U.S.

Kansas is the 11th most dangerous state in the U.S., according to WalletHub. This is largely due to "safety from natural disasters" rank, which is the second lowest in the country. The violent crime rate has increased by 1.7 percent in one year to 348.6 per 100,000 people; the number of rapes is up by 8.6 percent. Robberies and aggravated assaults are also on the rise, FBI data show.

Alabama, a state of about 4.8 million people, has the ninth highest murder rate in the country – 5.7, a tie with Georgia and Tennessee, according to the FBI. WalletHub named the Yellowhammer State the 12th most dangerous state because of its low ranking in home & community and financial safety. The FBI also ranked it 12th because of a violent crime rate of 427.4. The number of robberies is up by close to 1 percent in 2014 since the previous year. The number of other violent crimes such as murder and rape is down.

The second most populous state in the U.S. with about 27.5 million people is the 13th most dangerous, according to WalletHub. [See: The World's Most Dangerous Countries to Drive In] The Lone Star State has the highest share of the population without health insurance and low scores in the home & community safety and safety from natural disasters categories. The state's violent crime rate is the 15th highest in the country, according to the FBI – 405.9 per 100,000 people. Murders, non-negligent manslaughter, rapes and car thefts are all up.

Florida, home to almost 20 million people, was named by WalletHub the 14th most dangerous state in the country because of low scores in the home, financial, and road safety categories. As per murder rate, the Sunshine State is eighth – 5.8 per 100,000 people in 2014. The number of almost all violent crimes has increased by a double-digit percentage. The cases of rape are up 27 percent in one year. The overall violent crime rate – 540.5 – is the fifth highest in the U.S, according to FBI data.

The state with a little over 850,000 people is the 15th most dangerous in the U.S., according to WalletHub. The Mount Rushmore state is dragged low because of bad road and workplace safety rankings. It has the fourth highest number of occupational injuries per total employees in the country. The number of robberies has increased by 28 percent in one year, and the rate of murder and non-negligent manslaughter by 10 percent, according to FBI data.

Based on FBI numbers, Maryland has the 10th highest violent crimes rate in the U.S. – 446.1, even though it has decreased since 2013. [See: The 15 Most Dangerous Cities in America]The murder rate along, in 2014, is 6.1 per 100,000 people, the fifth highest in the country, down from 6.3 the previous year. Poverty rates are closely tied to the occurrence of violent crime. Baltimore, which has one of the highest crime rates of any urban U.S. region, has incomes that are lower than wages across the state.

The First State, home to 935,000 people, has the eighth highest violent crime rate in the U.S., according to the FBI. About 489 people a year per 100,000 are victims to murder (up by 30 percent in one year), rape, aggravated assault or  robbery (up by almost 2 percent). As many as 135.6 robberies are reported per 100,000 residents, the third highest rate in the U.S.