Insurify’s 2019 Safest Cities Awards

Danger on the roads? Not in these towns.

Given early estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2019 is projected to be the eighth year in a row with decreased traffic fatalities despite an increase in the number of vehicle miles traveled. This is great news for those concerned with the safety of our roads, and there are certain municipalities that have been leading this charge in each state. 

There are a number of factors that determine the overall traffic safety of a city. For example, potholes can cause crashes, traffic circles can prevent t-boning, and vigilant cops can detain drunk drivers before they have the chance to cause injury. All of these considerations have the capacity to move the needle on the rate of annual automotive incidents. However, the number-one determinant of road safety in a town is the aptitude of the drivers. In that respect, some cities simply rise to the occasion better than others. The skilled and careful motorists of these communities work hard in keeping local families and school zones safe.

Having the lowest rate of driving offenses statewide is a huge accomplishment. Curious to get to the bottom of which communities are home to the best drivers, the data science team at Insurify took a deep dive into driver behavior records to award Insurify’s 2019 Safest Cities.

Selection Process for Insurify’s 2019 Safest Cities Awards

To determine the communities with the least dangerous roadways, the data science team at Insurify, an auto insurance comparison site, turned to their database of over 1.6 million policy applications to crunch the numbers on resident’s driving records going back to 2010. When applying for insurance, car owners disclose prior moving violations including but not limited to speeding, at-fault accidents, DUIs, and running red lights. To determine the safest city by state, analysts identified the city with the lowest proportion of residents without past driving offenses. Hawaii was excluded from the analysis due to insufficient data. The winner’s list contains both smaller safe havens and larger municipalities free of traffic dangers, but all are deserving of the accolade of Safest Cities in America!

Winners of Insurify’s 2019 Safest Cities Awards

Alabama: Guntersville

Alaska: Anchorage

Arizona: Nogales

Arkansas: West Helena

California: Clearlake

Colorado: Fort Morgan

Connecticut: Fairfield

Delaware: Middletown

Florida: Bonita Springs

Georgia: Trenton

Idaho: Blackfoot

Illinois: Calumet City

Indiana: Hammond

Iowa: Clinton

Kansas: Pittsburg

Kentucky: Barbourville

Louisiana: Slidell

Maine: Augusta

Maryland: Riverdale Park

Massachusetts: Brookline

Michigan: Madison Heights

Minnesota: Duluth

Mississippi: Clarksdale

Missouri: Pacific

Montana: Butte

Nebraska: North Platte

Nevada: Laughlin

New Hampshire: Derry

New Jersey: Lakewood

New Mexico: Las Vegas

New York: Buffalo

North Carolina: Laurinburg

North Dakota: Fargo

Ohio: Newark

Oklahoma: Muldrow

Oregon: Cottage Grove

Pennsylvania: Hazleton

Rhode Island: Central Falls

South Carolina: Santee

South Dakota: Rapid City

Tennessee: Sweetwater

Texas: Weslaco

Utah: Price

Vermont: Burlington

Virginia: Colonial Heights

Washington: Longview

West Virginia: Princeton

Wisconsin: Waukesha

Wyoming: Evanston

If you have questions or comments about this article, please contact insights@insurify.com

Insurify Insights

Insurify’s team of data scientists and content specialists presents Insurify Insights, a series of automotive, home, and health studies focusing on the topics that impact us all. Through expert analysis of over 4 million car insurance applications and an array of top data sources, the Insurify Insights team produces new data-driven articles, trend analyses, regional superlatives, and national rankings every week. See Insurify Insights as featured in Forbes, Fox News, USA Today, NPR, and more.