Nevada ranked most dangerous state to live in

Tuesday, July 15, 1997 | 11:34 a.m.

New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont are the second, third and fourth safest states in the country, according to rankings released Wednesday.

The rankings are compiled each year by Morgan Quitno Press, an independent research and publishing company. The results are based on each state's crime rates in six areas: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.

Rankings are assigned from 1 to 50, with 50 being the safest.

This year's top spot of safest state went to North Dakota, which ranked No. 48 last year, and No. 46 in 1995.

At the bottom of the heap was Nevada, which also took the honors last year and was ranked the third most dangerous state in 1995.

"Over the past five years Nevada has seen its violent crime rate increase by nearly 40 percent while the nation as a whole has enjoyed an almost 10 percent decrease," said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press.

"North Dakota, on the other hand, may lack the razzle-dazzle of its southwestern neighbor, but in this case that may not be such a bad deal," he said.

New Hampshire slowly has been inching its way to the top of the rankings. In 1996 and 1995, it was No. 47. In 1994, the first year the list was compiled, it made No. 45.

In this year's rankings, New Hampshire did well in all offense categories but one. In both motor vehicle theft and murder, it was No. 47; in robbery it was No. 44; and in both assault and burglary it was No. 49.

But in rape, New Hampshire dropped down to No. 33.

State police Cpl. John Ellsworth blames that on increased reporting of the crime, not a jump in the number of sexual offenders.

"New Hampshire is probably one of the safer states mostly because the general attitude of the residents is that people wish to maintain it as a very family oriented state," Ellsworth said of why he thinks the state earned such a high overall ranking.

"It's also safe to say that the residents of New Hampshire all seem to aspire to keeping family values high on their list of priorities and make living conditions as safe as possible. There's a high interest in people for taking responsibility for their actions," he said.

Maine slowly has been dropping in the rankings, though not so much as to keep it from taking the No. 48 spot this year. In 1996 and 1994, it was No. 49. And in 1995, Maine claimed the honor of being the safest state in the nation.

And though Vermont also is dropping, like Maine it can claim to once have been the jewel of the nation's safe spots. In both 1996 and 1994, it was No. 50. This year, it has fallen back to No. 47.

The overall rankings, from most dangerous to least dangerous:

1. Nevada; 2. Florida; 3. Louisiana; 4. Maryland; 5. California; 6. Arizona; 7. New Mexico; 8. Illinois; 9. Tennessee; 10. Alaska; 11. South Carolina; 12. Michigan; 13. Oklahoma; 14. New York; 15. Texas; 16. Delaware; 17. Georgia; 18. North Carolina; 19. Mississippi; 20. Missouri; 21. Alabama; 22. Washington; 23. Oregon; 24. New Jersey; 25. Arkansas.

26. Massachusetts; 27. Indiana; 28. Ohio; 29. Hawaii; 30. Colorado and Kansas (tied); 32. Connecticut; 33. Minnesota; 34. Pennsylvania; 35. Utah; 36. Rhode Island; 37. Kentucky; 38. Virginia; 39. Wisconsin; 40. Idaho; 41. Nebraska; 42. Iowa; 43. Montana; 44. Wyoming; 45. West Virginia; 46. South Dakota; 47. Vermont; 48. Maine; 49. New Hampshire; 50. North Dakota.