BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge and New Orleans have once again landed near the bottom of WalletHub’s annual “Safest Cities in America” report, ranking among the most dangerous cities in the country.
WalletHub compared 182 cities across 41 metrics in three categories: home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety. Baton Rouge came in at No. 180 overall, while New Orleans ranked last at No. 182, putting both Louisiana cities in the bottom three nationwide.
Shreveport was the only other Louisiana city included in the analysis, ranking No. 152.
| City | Overall Rank | Home & community safety | Natural disaster risk | Financial safety risk |
| New Orleans | 182 | 182 | 71 | 177 |
| Memphis | 181 | 179 | 101 | 182 |
| Baton Rouge | 180 | 181 | 136 | 147 |
| Detroit | 179 | 177 | 100 | 181 |
| Baltimore | 178 | 180 | 61 | 166 |
To determine home and community safety rankings, WalletHub examined factors such as murders, thefts, and assaults per capita, along with traffic and pedestrian fatalities and the number of mass shootings reported in each city. Baton Rouge and New Orleans ranked near the bottom in this category, driven largely by their high violent crime rates. Although both cities have shown recent improvement in homicides, they still scored poorly overall due to elevated crime levels and traffic safety concerns.
East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards says he sees the rankings as more of an opportunity than an obstacle.
“Throughout my coaching career, I’ve always taken on teams that needed rebuilding, and I see Baton Rouge much the same way,” Edwards told UWK. “The same mentality drives me every day as Mayor-President. One of my top priorities is reducing crime, and it remains a key focus of my administration. While any crime is too many, we’re seeing real progress in our city with our number improving, and that tells me we’re moving in the right direction.”
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The natural disaster risk category measured each city’s exposure to hazards like flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, wildfires, and earthquakes. Baton Rouge ranked No. 136 in this category, while New Orleans fared better at No. 71.
In the financial safety category, WalletHub analyzed unemployment, poverty, and foreclosure rates, along with the number of fraud and identity theft complaints per capita. Baton Rouge ranked No. 147, while New Orleans came in at No. 177, reflecting ongoing economic challenges and high poverty rates across south Louisiana.
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The study used data from a wide range of federal and research sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FBI, FEMA, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, among others.
Warwick, Rhode Island; Overland Park, Kansas; Burlington, Vermont; Juneau, Alaska; and Yonkers, New York were ranked among the safest cities in the U.S.
Pearl City, Hawaii topped the list for home and community safety, Juneau ranked safest for natural disaster risk, and Portland, Maine was named the most financially secure city in America.
| City | Overall Rank | Home & community safety | Natural disaster risk | Financial safety risk |
| Warwick, RI | 1 | 8 | 9 | 44 |
| Overland Park, KS | 2 | 4 | 118 | 16 |
| Burlington, VT | 3 | 33 | 6 | 9 |
| Juneau, AK | 4 | 86 | 1 | 57 |
| Yonkers, NY | 5 | 3 | 29 | 118 |
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