Study: St. George, Utah Ranked Most Secure Place To Live

According to the third annual “Most Secure U.S. Places to Live” rankings from Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, the most secure location to live in the United States is St. George, Utah.

The rankings, compiled by database experts at www.bestplaces.net, took into consideration crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, environmental hazards, terrorism threats and job loss numbers in 379 U.S. municipalities. The study divided the communities into three groups: large metropolitan areas, mid-size cities and small towns.

The Provo-Orem, Utah, area was ranked first in the 2004 Farmers Insurance study, while the Richland-Kennewick-Pasco area in southeast Washington was tops in 2005.

“Everyone looks for a safe, secure place to live,” said Jeff Beyer, senior vice-president and chief communications officer for Farmers. “Whether you are single or raising a family, a secure environment is important. It offers the well-being so necessary to succeed in today’s fast paced world.”

Top-ranked St. George, whose population of 110,515 places it among the small towns, offers a climate that features mild winters, low annual precipitation and clean air. St. George had the lowest crime rate of all 379 communities in the Farmers study and the lowest unemployment rate among the 138 small towns.

The Boise City-Nampa, Idaho, area topped all large metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or greater. Nestled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the area is shielded from severe weather and has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Farmers study. The Most Secure Mid-Size city with a population between 150,000 and 500,000 is Las Cruces, New Mexico. Las Cruces scored well in the extreme weather and unemployment categories.

Here are the lists of the top 20, in order, of Farmers Insurance Group’s Most Secure Places to Live in the United States:

Most Secure Places to Live – Large Metro Areas (500,000 or more residents)
1. Boise City-Nampa, Idaho
2. Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine
3. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
4. Honolulu, Hawaii
5. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.
6. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazelton, Pa.
7. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.
8. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.
9. Syracuse, N.Y.
10. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.
11. El Paso, Texas
12. Albany-Troy-Schenectady, N.Y.
13. Rochester, N.Y.
14. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
15. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks- Ventura, Calif.
16. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y.
17. Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.
18. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.
19. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.
20. New Haven-Milford, Conn.

Most Secure Places to Live – Mid-Size Cities (150,000 – 500,000 residents)
1. Las Cruces, N.M.
2. Rockingham County-Strafford County, N.H.
3. Huntington, W.Va.-Ashland, Ky.
4. Bellingham, Wash.
5. Burlington-South Burlington, Vt.
6. Lynchburg, Va.
7. Medford, Ore.
8. Prescott, Ariz.
9. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.
10. Binghamton, N.Y.
11. Provo-Orem, Utah
12. St. Cloud, Minn.
13. Fargo, N.D.
14. Hagerstown, Md.-Martinsburg, W.Va.
15. Olympia, Wash.
16. Charlottesville, Va.
17. Chico, Calif.
18. Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, Wash.
19. Manchester-Nashua, N.H.
20. Duluth, Minn.

Most Secure Places to Live – Small Towns (Fewer than 150,000 residents)

1. St. George, Utah
2. Bend, Ore.
3. Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Va.
4. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
5. Ithaca, N.Y.
6. Morgantown, W. Va.
7. Logan, Utah
8. Winchester, Va.
9. Harrisonburg, Va.
10. Idaho Falls, Idaho
11. Madera, Calif.
12. Glens Falls, N.Y.
13. Wenatchee, Wash.
14. Bangor, Maine
15. Lewiston-Auburn, Maine
16. State College, Pa.
17. Billings, Mont.
18. Cumberland, Md.
19. Lewiston, Idaho
20. Pocatello, Idaho

Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is a personal lines property and casualty insurance group headquartered in Los Angeles.

Source: Farmers Insurance Group of Companies