Illinois Towns Make 'Safest Cities' List

ILLINOIS — WalletHub has released its "Safest Cities in America" report for 2018, and just two Illinois cities made the cut.

Aurora moved up three notches on the list and is now ranked at 13, compared with its rank of 16 last year. And despite the fact that its gun violence is a topic of national discussion — and a frequent talking point for President Donald Trump —the city of Chicago also made the list, coming in at No. 133 between Milwaukee (132) and Indianapolis (No. 134).

The WalletHub study looked at 182 cities, including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, across 39 key indicators of safety. Analysts examined home and community safety, financial safety and natural disaster risk factors.

Columbia, Maryland, ranked as the safest city in the country, while St. Louis, Missouri, ranked as the least safe city.

The top 10 safest cities in the U.S.:

1. Columbia, Maryland
2. South Burlington, Vermont
3. Plano, Texas
4. Virginia Beach, Virginia
5. Warwick, Rhode Island
6. Gilbert, Arizona
7. Yonkers, New York
8. Bismarck, North Dakota
9. Nashua, New Hampshire
10. Boise, Idaho

The top 10 least safe cities in the U.S.:

1. St. Louis, Missouri
2. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
3. San Bernardino, California
4. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
5. Little Rock, Arkansas
6. Detroit, Michigan
7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
8. Wichita, Kansas
9. Los Angeles, California
10. Jackson, Mississippi

Click here to view the complete rankings.

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• How Illinois Ranks Among Best Places To Live

Kristina Houck, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.

Photo via Shutterstock