Wyoming has plenty of wide open space, some of the most naturally beautiful land in the country, and of course, that cowboy charm. Plus, it seems to have grown out of some less desirable characteristics—namely, violence.
In fact, according to the latest analysis here at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog, some spots in Wyoming are downright safe havens. The honor of the safest place in the state went to Worland, but it wasn’t without some stiff competition.
Here are the 10 safest places in Wyoming:
1. City of Worland
2. City of Kemmerer
3. Town of Wheatland
4. City of Evanston
5. Town of Thermopolis
6. Town of Glenrock
7. City of Newcastle
8. Town of Evansville
9. City of Green River
10. City of Laramie
If you’re curious as to how we came up with this ranking in the first place, just keep reading. We’ll go over the method of our analysis, plus take a more in depth look at what makes each of these places safer than the rest.
Our Methodology
We started by making a list of all places in Wyoming with more than 2,000 residents based on the 2010 U.S. Census. From there, we gathered the crime data for each place from the
2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report, in each of the following categories:
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Assault
- Burglary
- Theft
- Vehicle theft
After that, we divided these crimes into four different categories:
- Murders
- Violent crimes (rape, murder, assault, robbery)
- Property crimes (burglary, theft, vehicle theft)
- Total crimes
After omitting any places that didn’t report crime data to the bureau that year, we wound up with a total of 25 places. For each, we calculated the crime rate per 100,000 residents, in order to fairly compare places with different population sizes (a common statistical practice).
Using these crime rates, we ranked each place from one to 25 in each of our categories, with the lower numbers being the safer places. Next, we weighted the results so that murders, violent crimes, and property crimes each comprised 30 percent of the overall score, while total crimes comprised 10 percent.
Finally, we averaged these results into an overall
Big Deal Score, where the place with the lowest score was our safest.
If you’d like to see how the rest of the places we looked at ranked, scroll down to the bottom of the post where we’ve included a complete table. Otherwise, we’ll take a closer look at what makes each of our top 10 so safe, starting with our safest place, Worland.
1. Worland
Of all of Wyoming’s residents, it looks like those in Worland had the very lowest chances of being the victim of a crime: just 1 in 135.
To put that into perspective for you, just take a look at Riverton, where residents were about eight times more likely to be involved in a crime.
Why are the chances in Worland so low? Mainly because of the impressively low overall number of crimes.
In 2012, there were just 740 total crimes per 100,000 people. That consisted of 668 property crimes and 72 violent crimes per 100,000 people, none of which were murders.
2. Kemmerer
Kemmerer, known as both the Gateway to the West and the Fossil Fish Capital of the World, may want to add “Least Violent” to its list of nicknames.
That’s because in 2012, this city had the second lowest number of overall crimes (1,338 per 100,000 people) and the very lowest number of violent crimes (a flat zero) per 100,000 people.
Zero violent crimes per 100,000 people is almost unheard of. This means that for the entire year, there were no rapes, murders, robberies, or assaults in this city.
Even in the second least violent place, Evanston, there were at least 40 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
3. Wheatland
This town in Platte County has that small town charm that only an underlying feeling of safety can bring about.
There’s a good reason for that feeling, too. In 2012, Wheatland had only 1,902 crimes per 100,000 people, the sixth lowest in the state. More impressive still, only 107 of those were violent crimes, ranking it fourth in this category.
Of those violent crimes, there were no murders, 27 rapes, no robberies, and 80 assaults per 100,000 people.
Additionally, Wheatland saw 107 vehicle thefts, 1,286 thefts, and 402 burglaries per 100,000 people, giving residents a 1 in 53 chance of being the victim of a crime.
4. Evanston
With over 12,000 residents, Evanston is one of the three largest places that will come up in our top 10, and a good example of why bigger cities are not necessarily more dangerous.
In 2012, Evanston had the 10th lowest overall number of crimes in the state (2,408 per 100,000 people), but where it was particularly impressive was in its low number of violent crimes: 40 per 100,000 people.
Of those violent crimes, there were no murders, no robberies, 24 rapes, and 16 assaults per 100,000 people. With these low numbers, it ranked second in the category of least violent crimes.
5. Thermopolis
This small town attracts visitors from all over the place with its natural beauty, famous hot springs, and of course, a low crime rate.
With just 1,675 crimes per 100,000 people for the entire year of 2012, Thermopolis had the fourth lowest number of overall crimes and residents had just a one in 60 chance of being the victim of one. This was mostly due to its impressively low number of property crimes: 1,478 per 100,000 people.
Of those property crimes, there were 66 vehicle thefts, 1,215 thefts, and 197 burglaries per 100,000 people.
6. Glenrock
Of all of the places we looked at in Wyoming, residents in Glenrock were the third least likely to be the victim of any kind of crime, with their chances being just 1 in 67.
The reason these odds were so low really came down to the low number of property crimes, and therefore overall crimes in the state.
In 2012, Glenrock had a total of 1,500 crimes per 100,000 people, only 1,154 of which were property crimes.
To put this into perspective, just take a look at Riverton, the place that ranked at the bottom of our list. This Fremont County city had a total of 5,406 crimes per 100,000 people, 5,025 of which were property crimes.
7. Newcastle
This city in Weston County ranked among our top 10, mostly for its low number of violent crimes. It ranked better than 18 other places in this category, with just 113 per 100,000 people.
Of those 113 violent crimes there were no murders, no robberies, 28 rapes, and 85 assaults per 100,000 people. There were also 283 burglaries, 2,121 thefts, and 113 vehicle thefts, for a total of 2,630 crimes per 100,000 people for the year.
8. Evansville
With just over 2,600 residents, Evansville is one of the smallest communities in our top 10, but with its proximity to Casper, residents need not fear for lack of things to do. In fact, they need not fear at all, because the only thing this town seems to be lacking compared to Casper is crime.
Let’s take a look at the two places just to see how safe Evansville is. In 2012, Evansville had just 1,875 crimes, just 1,339 of which were property crimes (per 100,000 people). It ranked fifth and fourth in these categories, respectively.
Casper, on the other hand, had a total of 3,616 crimes, including 3,465 property crimes per 100,000 people. The only area it did better in was in violent crimes—where Casper had 151 violent crimes per 100,000 people, Evansville had 536.
9. Green River
Just like Evansville before it, Green River didn’t exactly earn any points in the category of violent crime. In fact, it lost points here, for its 578 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
Why did it end up in our top 10? Well, for starters, none of these violent crimes included murders.
It also had some of the lowest numbers of property crimes (1,546) and therefore overall crimes (2,124) per 100,000 people, which helped to balance out the high number of violent crimes.
10. Laramie
With over 30,000 residents, you might think Laramie would be more dangerous than some smaller towns, but just take a look at this city compared to Buffalo, a place with just under 5,000 people.
Where Laramie had just 107 violent crimes, 2,235 property crimes, and a total of 2,342 crimes per 100,000 people, Buffalo had 298 violent crimes, 2,324 property crimes, and 2,622 total crimes.
The one area that Laramie lost points in was in the murder category, as it had three per 100,000 people in 2012.
Compared to Buffalo, though, where there were a staggering 21 murders per 100,000 people, Laramie is still looking pretty safe.
Stay Safe, Cowboys
The Cowboy State has certainly come a long way from those gun-toting, quick-drawing, saloon-brawling ways we see in old Western movies—especially in these 10 safest places in the state.
Fancy yourself living in one of these towns or cities? Well you don’t have to go all the way out west to find a home—just go to our website and we can help you out.
