A new national study from WalletHub has placed New Jersey among the safest places to live in the United States. The personal finance website released its 2025 report on the Safest States in America, ranking all 50 states based on dozens of safety indicators—from crime and roadway safety to financial stability and disaster readiness.
Researchers at WalletHub analyzed 52 different factors across five main categories to determine each state’s overall safety score. Those metrics included everything from the number of assaults per capita to financial losses per resident and exposure to natural disasters.
“The safest states in America protect their residents from harm in a multitude of different ways, from keeping crime rates low and maintaining safe roadways to having strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “They have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too. In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates.”
How New Jersey Scored
The Garden State landed at No. 16 overall with a total score of 56.90, ranking high in several key categories. According to the report, New Jersey boasts the most law enforcement employees per resident in the country and ranks first for the percentage of adults with emergency “rainy-day” savings. Perhaps it’s a Jersey thing.
The study also highlighted New Jersey’s strong record on worker and traffic safety. It placed second nationwide for having the fewest fatal occupational injuries per total workers and third for the lowest rate of roadway fatalities per 100 million miles driven.
Here’s how New Jersey performed across all five categories:
- Personal & Residential Safety: 7
- Financial Safety: 36
- Road Safety: 9
- Workplace Safety: 23
- Emergency Preparedness: 24
How the Rest of the Country Stacked Up
Vermont took the top spot as the safest state in America, followed by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Utah rounding out the top five. Other states joining New Jersey in the top 20 included Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Indiana, and Virginia.
Top 20 Safest States in America, according to WalletHub:
- Vermont
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Maine
- Utah
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Minnesota
- Rhode Island
- Wyoming
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Virginia
- Washington
- New Jersey
- New York
- Idaho
- Wisconsin
- Kentucky
What Makes New Jersey Stand Out
New Jersey’s combination of strong law enforcement, proactive residents, and low workplace fatality rates helped push it into the top tier. The study also points out that personal safety measures—like having savings for emergencies—make a big difference when evaluating a state’s overall security and resilience. Does that truly factor in? You decide.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.