1999 MOST DANGEROUS STATE |
||||||||
| 1999 RANK | STATE |
SUM |
'98 RANK | 1999 RANK | STATE |
SUM |
'98 RANK | |
1 |
Nevada |
50.62 |
3 |
26 |
Ohio |
(16.48) |
27 |
|
2 |
Florida |
46.35 |
2 |
27 |
New Jersey |
(19.13) |
24 |
|
3 |
Louisiana |
45.91 |
1 |
28 |
Kansas |
(19.75) |
30 |
|
4 |
New Mexico |
34.80 |
5 |
29 |
Hawaii |
(22.23) |
31 |
|
5 |
Tennessee |
33.04 |
8 |
30 |
Massachusetts |
(23.14) |
28 |
|
6 |
South Carolina |
28.23 |
6 |
31 |
Colorado |
(24.51) |
29 |
|
7 |
Maryland |
28.11 |
4 |
32 |
Minnesota |
(25.08) |
33 |
|
8 |
Arizona |
24.24 |
9 |
33 |
Pennsylvania |
(25.41) |
34 |
|
9 |
Illinois |
19.26 |
10 |
34 |
Utah |
(25.74) |
35 |
|
10 |
California |
19.14 |
7 |
35 |
Connecticut |
(29.22) |
32 |
|
11 |
Alaska |
12.55 |
13 |
36 |
Virginia |
(30.93) |
37 |
|
12 |
Michigan |
10.36 |
11 |
37 |
Kentucky |
(33.46) |
38 |
|
13 |
Mississippi |
7.47 |
19 |
38 |
Rhode Island |
(33.64) |
36 |
|
14 |
Georgia |
6.40 |
12 |
39 |
Nebraska |
(38.55) |
39 |
|
15 |
Texas |
3.19 |
14 |
40 |
Wisconsin |
(45.07) |
40 |
|
16 |
North Carolina |
2.94 |
17 |
41 |
Idaho |
(47.67) |
41 |
|
17 |
Delaware |
1.83 |
18 |
42 |
Iowa |
(49.32) |
44 |
|
18 |
Oklahoma |
1.44 |
15 |
43 |
Wyoming |
(51.89) |
42 |
|
19 |
Alabama |
(0.44) |
20 |
44 |
South Dakota |
(52.72) |
46 |
|
20 |
Arkansas |
(1.03) |
23 |
45 |
West Virginia |
(53.82) |
45 |
|
21 |
Washington |
(4.53) |
22 |
46 |
Montana |
(55.05) |
43 |
|
22 |
Missouri |
(4.84) |
21 |
47 |
Vermont |
(63.81) |
47 |
|
23 |
New York |
(5.54) |
16 |
48 |
Maine |
(63.95) |
48 |
|
24 |
Indiana |
(11.04) |
26 |
49 |
New Hampshire |
(64.84) |
49 |
|
25 |
Oregon |
(12.97) |
25 |
50 |
North Dakota |
(70.86) |
50 |
|
| METHODOLOGY: A four step process was followed to determine the Most
Dangerous State and Safest State rankings for 1999. First, state rates for six crime
categories — murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle
theft — were plugged into a formula that measures how a state compares to the
national average for a given crime category. Second, the outcome of this equation was then
multiplied by a weight assigned to each crime category. For this year’s award, each
crime category was given equal weight. In previous years, weights were determined based on
a telephone survey which asked Americans which crimes they feared the most in their
communities. While the results were always interesting, the telephone survey added an
element of subjectivity to the final outcome. By weighting each crime equally, state
comparisons are based purely on their crime rates and how these rates stack up to the
national average for a given crime category. Third, the weighted numbers were added together to get a state’s score ("SUM.") In the fourth and final step, these composite scores were ranked from highest to lowest to determine which states were the most dangerous and safest. The end result of this process is that the farther below the national average a state’s crime rate is, the lower (and safer) it ranked. The farther above the national average, the higher (and more dangerous) a state ranks in the final list. |