Kentucky Now Among the Top 10 Safest States in the U.S.

The Bluegrass State is now ranked among the safest states in the nation thanks to below-average crime rates.

My wife and I sold our Kentucky home several months ago when we returned to Indiana to plant our roots, but there are definitely a couple of things I miss about the area. For one, I miss the rolling hills, or "baby mountains," as my wife and I called them. Growing up on flat Hoosier land, anything with an incline was a mountain in our eyes. Our favorite place to visit was a peak called "Pilot Rock," which is about an hour west of Bowling Green. We lived about five minutes away from the best views, so it was always a great place to catch a sunset.

While living in rural southwest Kentucky, crime was not something we worried about to a great extent. Sure, there would be crimes reported here and there, but most were fairly minor and rare. For the most part, we felt safe in Kentucky. In fact, U.S. News now reports that Kentucky is among the top 10 safest states in the nation for 2024.

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FBI data indicated that overall, the violent crime rate in the U.S. continued to decline in 2022, dropping 1.6% year over year and returning to pre-pandemic levels. As part of their ranking, U.S. News factored in both the violent crime rate and property crime rate in each state to determine the best states for public safety. However, before we see where exactly the Bluegrass State fell among the top 10, let's take a look at the state that took the #1 spot.

States in the northeast part of the country seem to stand out for their comparatively low crime rates. Thus, U.S. News reports that the safest state in the nation is none other than New Hampshire. The Granite State has 126 violent crimes per 100,000 people and 1,011 property crimes per 100,000 people, the lowest in the entire country.

Now, let's take a look at where Kentucky came in on the list. U.S. News ranked Kentucky as the 7th safest city in America in 2024, also citing low property and violent crime rates. Specifically, Kentucky has about 214 violent crimes per 100,000 people and 1,449 property crimes per 100,000 people. Here is the full list:

1. New Hampshire
2. Maine
3. Idaho
4. Rhode Island
5. Connecticut
6. New Jersey
7. Kentucky
8. Massachusetts
9. West Virginia
10. Iowa