LAUREL, Md.— Alexandria, Virginia, has made Smart Asset’s list of the 10 safest cities in America for 2018.
The top 10 for 2018 were the same as the year before, but some cities traded spots. Alexandria jumped from the No. 4 spot in 2017 to number 2 last year.
Smart Asset, a web-based financial advice company, said seven factors were considered when calculating the rankings—including rates of violent crime and property crime, which can take not only an emotional hit but a financial toll on those affected.
They also included air quality, the drug overdose mortality rate and the percentage of adults who drink excessively, and the percentage of workers who take solo commutes to work.
The study also considered the number of traffic accident deaths per 100,000 residents. There were fewer than four in Alexandria, the study says, but the city is one of those in the D.C. area that are moving to shrink that number to zero in the coming years. Their goal is to reduce the number of traffic deaths to zero by 2028 as part of their involvement with the Vision Zero initiative.
In all, four West Coast cities made the top 10 of Smart Asset’s list, three on the East Coast, one in the Midwest, another in the South and one city in Hawaii.
Read more about how they calculated the rankings.
