Seattle, Tacoma rank among least safe U.S. cities, study finds

Tacoma
Seattle, Tacoma rank among least safe U.S. cities, study finds

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(Bruce Englehardt // CC BY-SA 4.0)

SEATTLE – Seattle and Tacoma rank among the least safe major cities in the US, according to a study by WalletHub.

Of a list of 182, Seattle ranks no. 148 and Tacoma ranks no. 158.

The methodology used does not just revolve around crime—WalletHub reports it compares three categories across the most populated cities: home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety.

Home and community safety includes metrics like percent of residents vaccinated against COVID-19, presence of terrorist attacks and mass shootings, violent crimes per capita, law enforcement officers per capita, share of sheltered homeless, and perception of safety.

Natural disaster risk measures the risk levels of events like earthquakes, floods, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires. Unfortunately for Western Washington, all but one of those metrics are a possibility.

Financial safety weighs metrics like unemployment rate, foreclosure rate, poverty rate, debt-to-income ratio, job security and share of homeowners spending at least 35% of their income on housing.

According to WalletHub, each metric was rated on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the highest level of safety. Certain metrics are double- or triple-weighted, while others are half-weighted.

Seattle earned high marks—the no. 7 rank—for financial safety, but fell down the ranks for community safety and natural disaster risk.

Tacoma, likewise, earned a no. 91 rank for financial safety, but has similar low ranks for community safety and natural disasters.

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Spokane earned the no. 60 spot, with a 19 for natural disaster risk and decent financial safety. Vancouver, Washington earned the no. 58 spot with average scores across the board, and slightly higher financial safety.

Portland, Oregon ranked 137th with low community safety, decent natural disaster risk, and 12th-ranked financial safety.

On the other end of the list:

  1. Columbia, Maryland
  2. Nashua, New Hampshire
  3. Laredo, Texas
  4. Portland, Maryland
  5. Warwick, Rhode Island
  6. Yonkers, New York
  7. Gilbert, Ariz
  8. Burlington, Vermont
  9. Raleigh, North Carolina
  10. Lewiston, Maine
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