Baltimore has been ranked among the least safe cities in the United States in a new WalletHub study, with Washington, D.C. also finishing near the bottom of the list.
WalletHub’s 2026 Safest Cities in America report ranked Baltimore 180th out of 182 cities evaluated, ahead of only Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at No. 181 and New Orleans, Louisiana, at No. 182. Baltimore received an overall score of 36.70.
Baltimore also ranked 180th for Home & Community Safety, 106th for Natural-Disaster Risk and 174th for Financial Safety. Washington, D.C. finished 165th overall with a score of 44.91. The District ranked 174th for Home & Community Safety and 124th for Financial Safety, but performed considerably better in the Natural-Disaster Risk category, where it ranked 13th.
WalletHub compared 182 cities, including the 150 most populated cities in the country as well as at least two of the most populated cities in each state. The study examined 41 metrics across three primary categories: Home & Community Safety, Natural-Disaster Risk and Financial Safety.
Metrics considered in the rankings include traffic fatalities, assaults per capita, unemployment rates and the percentage of residents without health insurance. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with higher scores representing a higher level of safety. WalletHub then calculated a weighted average to determine each city’s overall score. The rankings apply specifically to the cities themselves rather than their larger metropolitan areas.
Juneau, Alaska, was ranked the safest city in the country with a score of 75.89, followed by Warwick, Rhode Island; Overland Park, Kansas; Burlington, Vermont; and South Burlington, Vermont.
At the opposite end of the rankings, the bottom 10 consisted of St. Louis, Cleveland, Houston, Jacksonville, Detroit, Philadelphia, Memphis, Baltimore, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. To read the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/safest-cities-in-america/41926
