LEWISTON — Less than a month after being named one of the worst cities for singles, this city has been declared one of the safest in an online survey of 182 U.S. cities.
WalletHub, a website that offers credit scores and other personal financial-related information to consumers, analyzed what they characterized as “35 key indicators of safety” that included assaults per capita as well as unemployment rates and the quality of local streets.
Lewiston was listed as seventh safest while Portland finished ninth. No other Maine cities were included in the survey.
Lewiston ranked in the top 10 for financial safety and natural disaster risk, but was ranked 45th for home and community safety.
For financial safety, experts considered data related to unemployment, insurance, foreclosures, credit scores, poverty rates and fraud and other complaints, according to WalletHub’s website.
Natural disasters examined included risk of earthquakes, flood, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
For its analysis of home and community safety rankings, WalletHub looked at crime-related data, including the presence of terrorist attacks, murders and non-negligent manslaughters per capita as well as assaults, forcible rapes and thefts per capita. The numbers of first responders by population also were included in determining home and community safety considerations.
City officials trumpeted the news in an emailed media release Monday.
The website’s latest survey, released Monday, comes just weeks after a similar ranking of 182 cities for quality of singles’ life.
Lewiston finished eight from the bottom in that survey: 95th in economics; 159th in fun and recreation; and 174th in dating opportunities.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
