New Report Suggests Maine’s Two Largest Cities are Two of the Safest in the Country

You should feel good, Mainers — or maybe I should say, you should feel safe.
That's because the state's two largest cities scored very well in a recent study on safety.

WalletHub.com, a personal finance website, recently published a report of the safest cities in America. Portland and Lewiston were both included in the report.

How Safe are Maine's Largest Cities?

Lewiston earned a top 10 ranking, coming in at #9. That put Maine's second-largest city just behind Columbia, Maryland, and right in front of Salem, Oregon. Portland secured a solid top-25 ranking at #22. The city was just ahead of Chula Vista, California, and just behind Honolulu, Hawaii. These are impressive rankings for Maine’s major metro areas. It's very reassuring to see them scoring so well.

The study included each state's two largest cities, plus the top 150 cities in the nation. It evaluated safety using three major categories: Home & Community Safety, Natural Disaster Risk, and Financial Safety. These categories were further broken down into 41 subcategories, making the analysis as detailed as possible. You can read about the methodology here.

Lewiston excelled in two of the three categories. It ranked 4th in natural disaster risk and 2nd overall in financial safety. Those are tremendous rankings for a small city, especially in terms of financial safety. Lewiston did slide in the Home & Community

Safety category, finishing 63rd, which certainly hurt its overall score. However, it's still great to see the city crack the top 10.

As mentioned above, Lewiston finished 2nd in financial safety. The only city to finish higher was, of course, Portland. Talk about a great 1-2 Maine combo. As for the other categories, Portland did relatively well. It ranked 43rd in natural disaster risk (I mean, Commercial Street does flood every time it rains) and 58th in Home & Community Safety, which was slightly ahead of Lewiston.

If anything, this survey shows that Maine’s largest cities are excellent places to live and work. They’re safe, relatively free from natural disasters, and offer plenty of opportunities for professionals looking to grow their careers.

What is the Safest City in America?

WalletHub’s number one city also hails from New England. A big congrats to Warwick, Rhode Island, for being named the safest city in the country.

READ MORE: When to Visit Maine’s Acadia National Park for Best Experience

As for the least safe on the list? That would be New Orleans. Welp, it still wouldn’t deter me from living there. Jazz, booze, and a massive caloric intake are worth the risk.