Springfield performs poorly on WalletHub’s safest cities list

Graphic courtesy WalletHub

The Queen City ranks 135th on WalletHub.com’s 2018 list of the safety U.S. cities.

Springfield fared poorly on personal finance website WalletHub.com’s 2018 list of the safest U.S. cities.

The Queen City ranked 135th out of 182 cities studied by WalletHub, with St. Louis placing last. Springfield scored 79th in financial safety, 127th in natural-disaster risk and 141st in home and community safety, according to the report.

WalletHub’s study comprised 50 possible points for home and community safety, 30 for natural-disaster risk and 20 for financial safety. A handful of subcategories make up the main methodology metrics. Springfield’s score out of a possible 100 points was 68.4.

Below are highlights of Springfield’s individuals scores and ranks in the study. The list is sorted by placement:
    •    hurricane storm-surge risk level, zero, first place;
    •    number of mass shootings, one, first place;
    •    wildfire risk level, zero, first place;
    •    EMTs and paramedics per capita, 117.2, ninth place;
    •    unemployment rate, 3.2 percent, 21st place;
    •    identity theft complaints per capita, 73, 25th place;
    •    foreclosure rate, 0.02 percent, 31st place;
    •    underemployment rate, -3.5 percent, 42nd place;
    •    road quality, 21, 45th place;
    •    flood risk level, 0.26, 58th place;
    •    median credit score, 687, 61st place;
    •    share of underwater homes, 7.4 percent, 61st place;
    •    law enforcement employees per capita, 242.5, 78th place;
    •    fraud and other complaints per capita, 482, 82nd place;
    •    murders and non-negligent manslaughters per capita, 8.3, 100th place;
    •    personal bankruptcy filings per capita, 229.7, 104th place;
    •    share of sheltered homeless, 56 percent, 116th place;
    •    share of uninsured population, 16 percent, 139th place;
    •    debt-to-income ratio, 72.3 percent, 148th place;
    •    poverty rate, 25.9 percent, 154th percent;
    •    job security, 0.3 percent, 157th place;
    •    employment growth, -0.19 percent, 161st place;
    •    traffic fatalities per capita, 23.7, 164th place;
    •    tornado risk level, 14.8, 164th place; and
    •    thefts per capita, 80.8, 171st place.

The top five safest cities on the WalletHub list are Columbia, Maryland; South Burlington, Vermont; Plano, Texas; Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Warwick, Rhode Island.