It may be an attractive state to live in, but how safe are Florida’s cities really?
That’s what WalletHub set out to determine with its most recent study on the safest cities in the nation.
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To do so, researchers looked at over 180 cities for factors like terrorist attacks, mass shootings, natural disasters and financial hardship — among many others.
“Aside from the types of hazards that can cause physical harm, taking out an unaffordable second mortgage, forgoing health insurance or even falling victim to identity theft are also ways people run into danger,” the study reads. “One big worry for many people right now is the cost of inflation, which threatens Americans’ financial safety.”
The specific factors taken into account for the study are as follows:
- Home and Community Safety (60%): Includes the presence of terrorist attacks, number of mass shootings, murders/non-negligent manslaughters, forcible rapes, assaults, thefts, sex offenders, law-enforcement employees, active firefighters, EMTs/paramedics, hate crimes, sheltered homeless, perception of safety, drug poisonings, traffic deaths, pedestrian fatalities, and road quality
- Natural-Disaster Risk (20%): Includes risk of earthquakes, floods, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires
- Financial Safety (20%): Includes rates of unemployment, underemployment, share of uninsured population, share of uninsured drivers, foreclosures, credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, poverty, fraud complaints, identity theft, share of unbanked households, job security, employment growth, households with emergency savings, retirement plan access, personal bankruptcy filings, and share of “seriously underwater mortgages
The top city on the list is South Burlington in Vermont. Close behind are Casper, Wyoming; and Warwick, Rhode Island.
But for Florida, the best-ranked city doesn’t come until much further down: Port St. Lucie at No. 32.
The coastal city ranked relatively high when it came to the community factors, though it fell further behind in terms of natural disaster propensity — and closer to last place for financial safety.
In fact, many of the Florida cities on the list fared poorly when it comes to natural disasters and finances.
But Hialeah and Pembroke Pines — the latter of which also placed as the Sunshine State’s happiest city — managed to fare well for community safety at No. 11 and No. 13 for that segment, respectively.
The full ranking of Florida cities is as follows:
| State Rank | National Rank | City | Score | Community Rank | Natural Disaster Rank | Financial Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Port St. Lucie | 65.20 | 25 | 56 | 132 |
| 2 | 53 | Hialeah | 62.63 | 11 | 116 | 174 |
| 3 | 59 | Cape Coral | 61.88 | 23 | 132 | 166 |
| 4 | 73 | Pembroke Pines | 60.01 | 13 | 174 | 169 |
| 5 | 101 | St. Petersburg | 56.55 | 115 | 45 | 109 |
| 6 | 116 | Tampa | 55.13 | 87 | 147 | 153 |
| 7 | 124 | Miami | 54.60 | 89 | 116 | 178 |
| 8 | 130 | Tallahassee | 53.97 | 111 | 139 | 123 |
| 9 | 164 | Jacksonville | 43.00 | 164 | 124 | 163 |
| 10 | 168 | Orlando | 42.05 | 169 | 122 | 144 |
| 11 | 180 | Ft. Lauderdale | 36.06 | 172 | 174 | 176 |
