Nashua Voted No. 2 Safest City In U.S. By WalletHub

NASHUA, NH — Nashua was voted as the No. 2 safest city in America by the personal finance website WalletHub in a report released Monday.

Nashua scored an 84.4, finishing behind Columbia, Maryland (85.99). Laredo, Texas (3rd, 83.96), Portland, Maine (4th, 83.49) and Warwick, Rhode Island (5th, 83.19) rounded out the top five.

According to WalletHub, the report titled "2022 Safest Cities in America" compared 182 cities across 42 key indicators of safety. The indicators were broken into three categories: Home and Community Safety, Natural Disaster Risk and Financial Safety.

Home and Community Safety included factors like crime and traffic fatalities, Natural Disaster Risk included factors like earthquake and hurricane risk, and Financial Safety included factors like unemployment rate and poverty rate.

Nashua scored No. 2 overall in Financial Safety, No. 11 in Home and Community Safety and No. 27 in Natural Disaster Risk. Nashua was ranked No. 2 — behind Irvine, California — on the list of Fewest Assaults Per Capita.

"Threats to safety in the U.S. come in many forms, from the continued presence of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters to mass shootings and traffic accidents," wrote Adam McCann, a financial writer for WalletHub. "People can feel unsafe in other ways, too. Aside from the types of hazards that can cause bodily injury or other physical harm, taking out an unaffordable second mortgage, forgoing health insurance or even visiting unsecured websites are also ways people run into danger."

McCann continued: "No one can avoid all danger, however, and we take on a certain level of risk based on where we choose to live. Some cities are simply better at protecting their residents from harm."

Manchester, New Hampshire was the state's other city on the list, coming in at No. 23 (with a 79.51 score).

The five least safe cities in the report were: St. Louis (No. 182), Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (No. 181), San Bernardino, California (No. 180), Detroit (179), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (No. 178).