When Mayor Frank Picozzi learned Warwick, Rhode Island had topped a list of the safest cities in the United States, he wasn't surprised.
The charming city on the coast took advantage of federal money handed out during the COVID-19 pandemic to bolster its fleet of fire trucks and police vehicles, part of a yearslong effort to help improve public safety, which Picozzi credits with helping them rise through rankings.
"We had some areas of the city that were kind of rocky neighborhoods, but by constant policing and economic development, that's not the case anymore," Picozzi said. "People take pride in the city."
The analysis published by WalletHub in October doesn't just take into account crime data, which can be flawed and difficult to compare across cities. It also evaluates how safe residents are from natural disasters like tornadoes, wildfires or hurricanes. Financial safety is also measured by factors like the unemployment rate as well as the percentage of residents living without health insurance and in poverty.
"Too many people don't take this into account when assessing safety," said WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo.
