A recent report by WalletHub has placed Fort Lauderdale, located in Broward County, Florida, among the top three most unsafe cities in the United States.
The WalletHub survey evaluated 182 cities in the country, ranking them based on safety scores that encompass several categories such as home and community safety, financial safety, and natural-disaster risk. While Memphis, Tennessee, and Detroit, Michigan, ranked highest in assaults per capita, Fort Lauderdale placed third due to its vulnerabilities in multiple areas.
The assessment concluded that Fort Lauderdale holds a low position in both home and community safety and financial safety. It also presents a high risk in terms of natural disasters. Specifically, it is tied for the highest number of traffic fatalities per capita and ranks second-lowest in terms of the percentage of households possessing emergency savings. These factors contribute to its precarious standing alongside Memphis and Detroit.
WalletHub’s methodology involves combining data points like the presence of terrorist attacks, the number of crimes such as murder and theft, sex offenders per capita, and traffic fatalities to score the home and community safety of a city. In this category, Fort Lauderdale ranks eleventh nationwide.
The financial safety category considers factors like unemployment rates, the occurrence of fraud, the proportion of uninsured residents, foreclosure rates, and job security among others. Fort Lauderdale’s financial safety position is concerning, as it ranks seventh among the cities evaluated in this category. Lastly, the natural-disaster risk category involves analyzing potential threats from earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, with Fort Lauderdale ranking eighth among the cities considered.
While Fort Lauderdale contends with these difficulties, not all Florida cities fare poorly. Hialeah, described as “La Ciudad que Progresa,” stands out for its relative safety, ranked as the second-safest city in Florida and 53rd nationwide. Meanwhile, other Florida cities remain a concern due to low emergency savings. Cities like Miami, Pembroke Pines, and Cape Coral tie with Fort Lauderdale for the second-lowest emergency savings rate.
Despite these challenges, not all news is grim. South Burlington, Vermont, Casper, Wyoming, and Warwick, Rhode Island, are among the top-ranked safest cities in the U.S. These cities perform well across the safety categories outlined in the WalletHub study.
In summary, Fort Lauderdale’s exposure in areas of community safety, financial stability, and natural disaster risk makes it one of the less secure cities in the U.S. Other cities in Florida similarly face challenges, though some, like Hialeah, remain safer options by comparison. This survey underscores the complex nature of safety in urban environments.
Source: NBC Miami
