PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Salem and Vancouver have trumped Portland on the list of 2022’s Safest Cities in America, according to a recently-released WalletHub report.
To determine the rank of 182 cities, personal finance website WalletHub used three categories: home and community safety, natural-disaster risk and financial safety.
It evaluated those three key categories using 42 relevant metrics, including the number of mass shootings, wildfire risk level and the debt-to-income ratio. From there, each city got a score out of 100 points.
Portland fell near the bottom of the chart at No. 137, with an overall score of 69.48 points.
This may not be a surprise for Portlanders, due to the city’s increasing crime rates. The 2021 Portland Police Bureau Annual Report recorded 89 homicides, which was a 65% increase from the previous year.
KOIN 6 News also reported there were 1,319 reported shootings in 2021, a 44% increase compared to 2020 and a whopping 219% increase compared to 2019. Of those shootings, 334 were reportedly connected to injuries or homicide.
However, the Rose City was still deemed safer than Washington’s largest city, Seattle. It sits at No. 148 on the list and scored 67.92.
Vancouver, Wash., on the other hand, is ranking at No. 58 and scoring at 76.35 points
Salem performed well across the key indicators of safety as well, topping both Portland and Seattle by over 100 spots. Coming in at No. 35, it had an overall score of 77.89 points.
Below are the top 10 safest cities in America, according to WalletHub:
- Columbia, MD
- Nashua, NH
- Laredo, TX
- Portland, ME
- Warwick, RI
- Yonkers, NY
- Gilbert, AZ
- Burlington, VT
- Raleigh, NC
- Lewiston, ME