Arkansas named fifth-most dangerous state in new report

Arkansas ranks as the 46th safest state in the country according to a report released earlier this week by WalletHub.

States were ranked by an aggregate score, measured across five categories: personal and residential safety, financial safety, road safety, workplace safety and emergency preparedness. Arkansas ranked 33rd or worse in every category, faring best in emergency preparedness (33rd) and worst in personal and residential safety (44th).

Joining Arkansas in the bottom five least-safe states are fellow southern states Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The five safest states, according to WalletHub, are Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut. 

Arkansas also measured poorly in individual metrics underlying the study, ranking 46th in fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven, assaults per capita and fatal occupational injuries per total workers. The state did not crack the top five in any individual statistical category.

WalletHub’s findings, at least with respect to Arkansas, track closely with other recent rankings of states generally. US News & World Report ranked Arkansas 45th in its most recent “Best States” list, with Arkansas scoring next to last in crime and corrections. FBI data from 2024 similarly put Arkansas at 47th nationally in violent crime as a whole, 42nd in homicides, 49th in rapes and 47th in aggravated assaults.

These results also match a WalletHub study last year of the safest cities in America, where Little Rock ranked 164th out of 182 and Fort Smith ranked 101st. No other Arkansas cities were included in that study. In that survey, Little Rock tied for last in traffic fatalities per capita and assaults per capita.

All of this could also help explain why, just last month, WalletHub ranked Arkansas as the 48th happiest state in the nation.