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[Forerunner]

A link to the article.

A link to the study.

Although the risk of deadly shootings appears to have escalated, violence in the United States is trending downward. In 1995, there were 685 violent incidents per 100,000 people nationwide. By 2014, the national violent crime rate had fallen to 366 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The United States is far from the most peaceful place on earth, however, and some states remain far more violent than others.

24/7 Wall St. generated an index to rank the peacefulness of each U.S. state. States with high violent crime and homicide rates, as well as high estimated small arms ownership and high incarceration rates were identified as less peaceful, while states with lower incidences of these factors were more peaceful. According to our index, Maine is the most peaceful state, while Louisiana is the least peaceful.

A slew of factors contribute to violence in a community. La Vigne noted that many factors are involved and anything from low incomes and the presence of 15 to 25 year old men to a combination of environmental conditions can help explain unrest in an area. “Vacant housing, burned out streetlights, [and] signs of disorder ... can predict where crime might be more concentrated,” she said.

In the vast majority of the nation’s more peaceful states, households earn higher incomes, while incomes tended to be much lower in more violent states. Of the 25 states on the top end of the peacefulness ranking, only five have poverty rates higher than the national rate of 15.5%. Of the more violent half of states, poverty rates tend to be higher.

A perfectly peaceful community would have no need for weapons or law enforcement workers. Of course, some number of police officers are needed to keep the peace even in the least violent areas. Past a certain threshold, however, large enforcement operations are features of less peaceful states. The ratio of law enforcement employees to state residents exceeded the national proportion of 282 law enforcement workers per 100,000 Americans in eight of the 10 least peaceful states. On the other hand, all but two of the 10 most peaceful states had proportionately smaller police forces.

The connection between law enforcement and peaceful society is not yet completely understood. Crime continued to drop in the United States during the most recent economic downturn, even as police spending dramatically fell. Also, whether more policing equals greater peace largely depends on what police are doing. La Vigne gave the example of aggressive stop-and-frisk tactics, which frequently alienate law-abiding citizens who might otherwise have aided in crime prevention.

Methodology

To identify the most violent and most peaceful states, 24/7 Wall St. created an index based on five measures. We were inspired by the 2012 United States Peace Index from the Institute for Economics & Peace, and emulated the Institute’s methodology in order to rank states from most peaceful to most violent. We gave full weight in the index to two of the five measures: the number of murders and the number of violent crimes (excluding murder) per 100,000 people, both of which came from the FBI’s 2014 Uniform Crime Report. Law enforcement employment per 100,000 state residents, which includes civilian employees such as dispatchers and administrators, was given a three-quarter weighting and also came from the FBI. Incarceration rates, which capture state prisons only, were given a three-quarter weighting and came from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Firearm suicides as a percent of total suicides are for 2010 through 2014 to adjust for outliers and are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This was the fifth component of the index and received a one-quarter weight. In the absence of accurate counts of small arms in U.S. households, this measure is closely correlated to and widely used as an approximation of small arms possession because firearms used in suicides are disproportionately small arms. These data sets are frequently based on disparate and inconsistent population totals, so all rates for the purposes of this index were calculated based on 2013 ACS population counts.

In addition to these indexed measures, we reviewed the gun ownership rate in each state as of 2013 obtained from a study published in 2015 from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. The survey asked state residents whether they live in a household with at least one firearm of any kind. Poverty rates, median household incomes, and the percentages of adults with at least a high school diploma or with at least a college degree in each state came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey.

The list in descending order from the least violent to most:

50) Maine
49) Vermont
48) New Hampshire
47) Minnesota
46) Utah
45) Massachusetts
44) Rhode Island
43) Washington
42) Hawaii
41) Iowa
40) Ohio
39) Oregon
38) North Dakota
37) Idaho
36) Connecticut
35) Nebraska
34) Wyoming
33) Kentucky
32) New Jersey
31) Montana
30) Colorado
29) Virginia
28) Wisconsin
27) New York
26) West Virginia
25) South Dakota
24) Pennsylvania
23) Kansas
22) Indiana
21) California
20) Illinois
19) Mississippi
18) North Carolina
17) Michigan
16) New Mexico
15) Texas
14) Georgia
13) Maryland
12) Oklahoma
11) Alabama
10) Arizona
9) South Carolina
8) Florida
7) Missouri
6) Arkansas
5) Nevada
4) Delaware
3) Tennessee
2) Alaska
1) Louisiana

 

[Transistor]

Really surprised to see Texas all the way down at 15

 

[Regiruler]

Alaska second most violent?

 

[Fat4all]

West Virginia, your median for violent living.

 

[perfectchaos007]

The SEC dominates the top of the polls once again

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Didn't expect VA to be so low on the list, but I live in a pretty peaceful city (for the most part).
Wait, least to most? Oh.

 

[Killer Queen]

For all the terrible things I hear about West Virginia I'm surprised it's right in the middle.

 

[Volimar]

Yay Ohio!

 

[entremet]

Delaware?

What?!

 

[bennywhatever]

Maine just seems to be the happiest state ever.

Also, wtf Alaska? I just visited in June and while there was a crazy local in Juneau, it was a pretty peaceful state.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Damn, my TN is number 3. I never would've thought that. And Alaska number 2, the hell? Louisiana being 1 isn't super shocking, though.

Of course fucking Maine would be the least violence. Dammed Murder, She Wrote watching state.

 

[Kayo Police]

How in the world is Alaska second?

 

[PreyingShark]

Hmm... Maybe my view of Minnesota as kinda violent is skewed by how I live on the edge of the Northside.

...NAAAAAAAAAH

 

[Dart]

North to south

Alaska though.... what

 

[gutter_trash]

New Hampshire may be peaceful but they have a big addiction drug problem

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

All those Moose must really be fucking people's shit up in Alaska.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Alaska second most violent?

It's got the highest suicide rate in the country. I don't know if that's related, but it's worth noting Lousiana has the highest murder rate.

 

[Mudcrab]

Damn, my TN is number 3. I never would've thought that. And Alaska number 2, the hell? Louisiana being 1 isn't super shocking, though.

Of course fucking Maine would be the least violence. Dammed Murder, She Wrote watching state.

People talk about Chiraq but it's been real in New Orleans for decades.

North to south

Alaska though.... what

Point to Delaware on a map.

 

[Ponn]

The SEC dominates the top of the polls once again

Go Gators!!

I knew there was a reason I always wanted to live in Maine.

 

[Drazgul]

Is it the cabin fever in Alaska or what?

 

[LionPride]

Damn, my TN is number 3. I never would've thought that. And Alaska number 2, the hell? Louisiana being 1 isn't super shocking, though.

Of course fucking Maine would be the least violence. Dammed Murder, She Wrote watching state.

Memphis is the most violent city in America, we kinda had a hand in pushing Tennessee up

 

[Cocaloch]

North to south

Alaska though.... what

Adjust this for average wages and I bet you see that disappear. Also you need to adjust that there are more black people in the states that did poorly on the list and they have a much higher tendency than other races to be incarcerated whether or not there is actually a reason to do so.

 

[geomon]

Florida in the top 10, yeah!

 

[Schlorgan]

Utah in the top 5. Represent!

 

[Lord Frieza]

Memphis is the most violent city in America, we kinda had a hand in pushing Tennessee up

Oh yeah, Memphis. Still seems pretty high overall, but I really wasn't thinking of how bad Memphis is.

 

[Necrophage]

As far as Alaska is concerned, having lived there for three years, most of the violent crime is concentrated in Anchorage or from the natives. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but at one point Alaska had the highest rape count per capita in the U.S.

 

[Forerunner]

How in the world is Alaska second?

It may be hard to believe that Alaska, home to some of the most remote and expansive stretches of wilderness in the world, is the second least peaceful state in the nation. While crime levels have dropped across the nation, Alaska’s violent crime rate has remained roughly unchanged in recent years. Today, at 636 reported incidents per 100,000 state residents, Alaska has the highest violent crime rate in the nation. In a perfectly peaceful state, no one would own a gun for self defense. The presence of firearms not only increases the risk of violent incidents, but also reflects fear among gun owners and can cause fear in others. In Alaska, 61.7% of adults live in households with at least one firearm, the highest gun ownership rate of all states.

Unlike most of the nation’s least peaceful states, Alaska residents are relatively well-off financially. The typical household earns $71,583, the third highest median household income of all states.

.

 

[teruterubozu]

Maine just seems to be the happiest state ever.

It's the oldest and whitest. A haven of sorts?

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Alaska? Must be suicide related and affected by the population percentage, right?

As far as Alaska is concerned, having lived there for three years, most of the violent crime is concentrated in Anchorage or from the natives. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but at one point Alaska had the highest rape count per capita in the U.S.

.

Thanks.

 

[Cocaloch]

People talk about Chiraq but it's been real in New Orleans for decades.



Point to Delaware on a map.

It's not just New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles are terrible. My understanding is Lafayette, and Shreveport are getting worse as well. But the methodology for this was going to push LA up regardless with the size of the private prison industry in the state.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

I expected Idaho being in the 20s at least.

 

[SecretMoblin]

I assume rape and gun ownership contributed to Alaska's placement. 62% of homes having a firearm would put it high on the list using their methodology.

 

[forgeforsaken]

Safe in New England.

 

[FeenixRising]

I didn't think VA would be at 29, especially living in Norfolk... Lol

 

[v0yce]

Oh yeah, Memphis. Still seems pretty high overall, but I really wasn't thinking of how bad Memphis is.

I think Nashville is really high too.

 

[LionPride]

It's the oldest and whitest. A haven of sorts?

I thought that was Portland? Or Oregon as a whole

 

[TheFatOne]

Didn't realize how relatively safe New England is.

 

[BruinsMtB]

I thought that was Portland? Or Oregon as a whole

Everyone forgets Vermont and Maine. When I was growing up the state of Maine was 99% white. If you weren't in Portland or maybe Bangor it was just a sea of pale.

 

[bootsthecat]

New Hampshire may be peaceful but they have a big addiction drug problem

It's an issue, but of course not as bad as the media would have you believe, as usual. I say this as someone living smack dab in the middle of the largest city. I love my state!

 

[teruterubozu]

I thought that was Portland? Or Oregon as a whole

Not even top 5.

 

[Joyful]

I live in anchorage
everyone has a gun + no permit needed to conceal carry (one of three states iirc)
basically the wild west up in here

 

[LionPride]

Not even top 5.

Everyone forgets Vermont and Maine. When I was growing up the state of Maine was 99% white. If you weren't in Portland or maybe Bangor it was just a sea of pale.

Remind me never to go to those places. Spent a month in New Hampshire, if it wasn't for what I was doing there, I wouldn't have seen a single other black person there

 

[Princess Carl]

Utah in the top 5. Represent!

I love that the explanation is literally the beehive state mantra thing we got going on here haha.

 

[j0hnnix]

Been wanting to find a peaceful place to move too and that top list is where I'll be looking at.. How is Maine economically?

 

[TickleMeElbow]

Wtf Ohio's more peaceful than Oregon?

 

[JetBlackPanda]

The SEC dominates the top of the polls once again

this is a quality post.

glad to see Utah at #46

 

[PantherLotus]

Missouri more violent than Florida, huh?

 

[Ferrio]

I live in anchorage
everyone has a gun + no permit needed to conceal carry (one of three states iirc)
basically the wild west up in here

Fairbanks, woo. We're number 2! We're number 2!

 

[OnionPowder]

Go Florida! Top 10 baby!

 

[iamblades]

The SEC dominates the top of the polls once again

And Kentucky bringing up the rear of the SEC as usual, this time in a positive manner though.