Texas ranked near No. 1 as the least safest state in the nation, study says

The average American moves approximately 11 times in their lifetime, according to Statista. With each relocation, they consider factors such as career opportunities, affordability, and, perhaps, one of the top concerns: safety. A new study aims to help folks identify which states perform best in that category, ultimately helping them feel most secure in selecting a new home base.

The report, released on Monday, October 6, comes from WalletHub, a personal finance company. Alarmingly, it names Texas, which led the nation for net domestic migration last year, as the third least safe state in the country.  

San Antonio had higher rates of violent and property crimes per capita than several other major metroplexes in a similar danger study last month. But what’s contributing to the Lone Star State’s poor standing as a whole? 

Researchers analyzed each part of the country across 52 key indicators of safety on a 100-point scale. Each metric was grouped under one of five categories: “Personal & Residential Safety” (40 points), “Financial Safety” (15 points), “Road Safety” (15 points), “Workplace Safety” (15 points), and “Emergency Preparedness” (15 points). Here’s how Texas performed.

Texas ranked 40th in financial safety, which considered factors such as its share of uninsured people, unemployment rate, and identity-theft complaints per capita. It also looked at more personal elements of fiscal stability, like the share of people not saving money for children’s college and the share of households unable to pay their energy bill in the past 12 months.

In recent months, waves of layoffs have affected residents across the state. One of the latest hits comes from the Brooke Army Medical Center, where nearly 300 San Antonians will lose their jobs after their final day on November 30.

Driving laws, the number of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel, and traffic indiscipline (phone use, speeding, etc.) help make up this category. Texas ranked 40th, according to the report, marking it its second-worst score across every indicator.

“There are many ways to reduce this risk,” the University of Texas at Austin professor Jake Wegmann said in the report. “These include living closer to one’s workplace; avoiding the most dangerous types of driving as much as possible (at night, in bad weather, while fatigued, while under the influence, etc.); or, best of all, living in a place where taking public transit to work is a viable option. Chances of serious injury or death while riding a public bus or train are practically nil.”

This category measured the fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time workers, injuries and illnesses per 10,000 full-time workers, and the median days lost due to occupational injuries & illnesses. States also gained six points if they offered Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) plans. 

“Texas is not an OSHA-approved State Plan, and is under federal OSHA jurisdiction, which covers most private sector workers within the state,” the U.S. Department of Labor website states.

Still, the state ranked 33rd, which is better than its Louisiana neighbors (No. 36), but a lot worse than that of New Mexico (No.3). 

A place’s emergency preparedness score considers only two elements: the number of climate disasters causing over $1 billion in damages since 1980, and per capita losses from those billion-dollar events.

At No. 48, this is where Texas scored the worst across all safety metrics. According to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, the state experienced 190 such tragedies between 1980 and 2024. 

“These events included 20 drought events, 9 flooding events, 1 freeze event, 126 severe storm events, 16 tropical cyclone events, 7 wildfire events, and 11 winter storm events,” the center said on its website.

The nation’s northeastern counterparts ranked best for safety in the report. The top five were Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Utah.