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California near the bottom of new safest states ranking for 2026
New York Post • • business
Key Points:
- California ranks 39th among US states in overall safety according to WalletHub, with poor performance in personal and residential safety where it ranks 48th, just ahead of Oregon, Nevada, and Alaska.
- The state is identified as the worst for financial security of the unemployed, contributing to its low overall safety ranking.
- Other West Coast states fare better, with Washington at 13th, Oregon at 24th, Arizona at 14th, and Utah leading the region at 6th place.
- A separate SmartAsset study highlights California cities like Oakland and San Francisco as having some of the highest crime and traffic fatality rates in the country.
- New England states dominate the top five safest states, led by Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, benefiting from low crime rates and high perceptions of neighborhood safety.
