The 5 safest states in 2026 are all in New England

The 30-second version: New England dominates the 2026 safest-states rankings. WalletHub's annual study puts Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine in the national top four, and FBI crime data places Connecticut among the lowest violent crime rates in the country. Here is why each state made the list.

1. Vermont

Vermont takes the top spot in WalletHub's 2026 safest states study, which scored all 50 states across 52 indicators, from assaults per capita to financial safety and emergency preparedness. The Green Mountain State ranked first in both financial safety and road safety, a rare double win. Small towns, strong community ties, and some of the lowest crime numbers in the FBI's data keep Vermont at the top year after year.

2. Massachusetts

Massachusetts lands second overall in the WalletHub study, with top-five finishes in personal and residential safety, financial safety, and road safety. The Bay State pairs some of the safest drivers in America with low crime rates outside its urban cores, and its strong economy and job market count toward safety too, since financial stability is one of the study's five categories.

3. Maine

By the raw FBI numbers, Maine is the safest state in the country, full stop. The latest FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data puts Maine's violent crime rate at about 100 incidents per 100,000 residents, the lowest in the nation and roughly 72% below the national rate, according to SafeHome.org's 2026 analysis. With few dense urban areas, there are simply fewer places where assaults and robberies tend to cluster.

4. New Hampshire

New Hampshire ranks first in the nation for public safety in U.S. News' Best States rankings, which evaluate violent and property crime rates from FBI data. Its violent crime rate of about 110 per 100,000 is the second lowest in the country, and WalletHub puts it third overall, with top-three finishes in personal safety and financial safety.

5. Connecticut

Connecticut rounds out the list with a violent crime rate of about 136 per 100,000, the third lowest in the nation per World Atlas's 2026 ranking. The Constitution State also recorded the largest year-over-year drop in violent crime of any state in 2025, according to SafeHome.org's analysis of the latest FBI data.

The fine print

Rankings depend on methodology. WalletHub weighs 52 factors beyond crime, including road safety, workplace safety, and emergency preparedness, while FBI-based lists look only at reported crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates more than half of violent crimes go unreported, and state averages can mask big differences between cities and towns. Treat these rankings as a starting point, not a verdict on any one neighborhood.

Cover image is an AI-generated illustration.

Sources: WalletHub, Safest States in America (2026) · U.S. News, Public Safety Rankings · SafeHome.org, 2026 Crime Statistics · OpenCrime, Crime Statistics by State 2026 · World Atlas, The 10 Safest States in the US