This Upstate New York City Named One of the Safest in America

How the times changed. It wasn't long ago that this Upstate New York town was the one that people avoided at all costs because it was simply too dangerous. Today, it's ranked one of the safest cities in the United States.

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The personal finance website WalletHub recently published a list of 2022's Safest Cities in America after comparing nearly 200 cities based on a variety of criteria including assaults per capita, road quality, risk of natural disasters, financial safety including unemployment rate, and percentages of residents who are fully vaccinated.

WalletHub compared the 150 most populated cities in the United States, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state, and then ranked them based on 42 metrics focusing on three main factors which were home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety.

In New York State, the City ranked number 127 overall even though it tied with multiple cities for the most law enforcement employees per capita. Buffalo ranked number 130 overall, even worse off than New York City thanks largely to low scores in home and community safety. On the other hand, Buffalo ranked the fifth safest city in the United States when it comes to natural disasters.

So, which upstate New York city made the list as one of the safest in the United States? That honor goes to Rochester.

Rochester ranked number 52 in the United States with an overall score of 76.82. Rochester came in 75th out of 182 cities when it comes to home and community safety and has the fourth-lowest natural disaster risk. Rochester was in the top 25 safest U.S. cities among those with populations of 210,000 or more.

Syracuse, Albany, Utica, and Binghamton were not included in the list.