Selling point
As realtors, it never hurts to have some more intel on why people would want to move to the state in which you do business. Thankfully, WalletHub has got you covered!
The site put together a study outlining the safest states in America by comparing each US state across “37 key safety indicators grouped into five different categories.”
Safety first
According to this study, here are the top ten safest states in America:
10. Hawaii
9. Utah
8. Rhode Island
7. Connecticut
6. Washington
5. New Hampshire
4. Minnesota
3. Massachusetts
2. Maine
1. Vermont
Each category contains a certain number of points based on the number of safety indicators within the category and the weights of each indicator. These indicators can half full weights or double weights, and the study is set up to let you filter the rank order by each category, so you can understand how your state performs on a deeper level. Here are the study’s categories and a sample of the indicators within each one:
Personal and Residential Safety
This category gives the most weight to per-capita rates of murders, rapes, and assaults.
They also heavily weight the number of sex offenders per capita.
Other factors considered include the number of employed law-enforcement agents and firefighters, as well as the suicide rate. With 40 total points (other categories have 15 total points), personal and residential safety is the most important category in the study
Road Safety
This includes rates of road dangers, such as fatalities (including those involving pedestrians and cyclists), and DUIs. It also takes into account ratings for road quality and driving laws
Workplace Safety
This category tracks fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses, with fatal injuries being weighed the most. Other factors include the days lost to those injuries and illnesses, and the presence of OSHA plans in the workplace.
Financial safety
Unemployment rate is the heaviest-weighted factor in this category.
However, it also includes indicators like underemployment rates, poverty rates, job security, unemployment claims and employment growth.
Other factors revolve around personal finance, such as personal bankruptcy filings, share of adults with rainy day funds, debt per income and median credit score.
Emergency Preparedness
This category includes the number of climate disasters that caused over a billion dollars in damages over the last decade, and how the total losses for those disasters are spread out across a per-capita basis
Take a look
It’s a huge study, and there’s even more data available. So, do yourself and favor and comb through it yourself to get a better idea of your state’s strengths when it comes to safety.
Where you see safety deficiencies for your state, ask yourself how getting involved with local politics or local organizations might improve those issues. Make your market a better sell and improve your brand at the same time!
#Safetyfirst
