Travel
Published December 24, 2023, 1:52 p.m. ET
The following cities were among the top 10 “unsafe” places in the U.S. during the holidays, according to a new study from Vivint, a smart home security company.
The researchers combined “property crime data, Google search trends and other safety factors” to rank the country’s 50 largest cities by crime risk.
According to Vivint, these factors include data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), Google Trends searches related to vacation safety, security features for Airbnb listings, registered Neighborhood Watch groups and statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Here are the top 10, with the highest “risk scores” representing the riskiest places, according to Vivint:
1. St Louis, Missouri
Risk score of 62,492.
2. Newark, Delaware
Newark, Delaware. newarkde.gov
Risk score of 62.46
3. Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah. Getty Images
Risk rating of 60.2
4. Denver, Colorado
Risk score of 62.46
5. Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington. Getty Images for Rock'n'Roll Mar
Risk rating of 59.34
6. Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont. AFP via Getty Images
Risk rating of 58.64
7. Rutland, Vermont
Rutland, Vermont. AP
Risk rating of 58.56
8. Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia. Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Risk rating of 58.05
9.Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Risk rating of 57.20
10. Portland, Ore
Portland, Ore. AP
Risk rating of 56.95
“Among the 182 U.S. cities we analyzed are St. Louis, MO; Salt Lake City, UT; and Denver, Colorado, topped the list of cities with the highest crime risk during the holiday season. “Focusing on the specific risk factors that contribute to these rankings shows that different cities present unique safety challenges,” the Vivint report states.
The highest number of NIBRS reports per 100,000 residents were recorded in St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Denver, according to the study. Internet data shows that Newark, Delaware, and Rutland, Vermont, had the most online searches related to holiday crime, Vivint found.
Among individual safety metrics, Tacoma, Washington, ranked first for the most crimes reported during the holidays per 100,000 residents; Newark, Delaware ranks #1 in Google searches related to vacation safety; and Rockville, Maryland, ranked No. 1 with the largest share of Airbnb properties without security cameras.
Riverside, California and St. Louis had the most vehicle thefts per 100,000 residents, according to available data. St. Louis saw a 50% increase in vehicle thefts this year compared to 2022. Little Rock, Arkansas, and North Charleston, South Carolina, have the fewest neighborhood watch groups.
The top 10 cities ranked last for vacation crime include Shreveport, Louisiana; Gulfport, Mississippi; Kansas City, Kansas; Oakland, California; North Las Vegas, Nevada; Santa Ana, California; Montgomery, Ala.; Glendale, Arizona; Henderson, Nevada; and Jacksonville, Florida.
A graphic showing lists of cities in two categories
The Vivint study found that two out of five U.S. homeowners experienced property crime at least once during the last two holiday seasons, and nearly 50% of Americans who reported crime during the last two holiday seasons reported losses or damages of more than $100 -Dollars have reported.
Signs that a home may be unoccupied and therefore a target for theft include lights off, packages piling up and an empty driveway, the report said.
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