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San Antonio came in as the No. 86 safest city in the U.S., ahead of other major cities in Texas including Austin, Dallas and Houston.
The media's frequent, and often fever-pitch, crime coverage can make life in the Alamo City feel like a live-action version of the video game
Grand Theft Auto.
However,
WalletHub’s 2022 Safest Cities in America report identified San Antonio as the safest big city in Texas. The Countdown City ranked as the 86th safest city in the nation, just behind Boston and one spot ahead of Jersey City.
For the study, researchers compared 182 U.S. cities using 42 metrics, including home and community safety, financial safety and even natural disaster risk.
“Aside from the types of hazards that can cause bodily injury or other physical harm, taking out an unaffordable second mortgage, forgoing health insurance or even visiting unsecured websites are also ways people run into danger,” WalletHub Financial Writer Adam McCann explained in the report.
Using those criteria, San Antonio landed ahead of every other major Texas city, including El Paso (97th), Austin (125th), Fort Worth (129th), Houston (153rd) and Dallas (166th).
Although not a big city, the border town of Laredo landed at No. 3 on the list.
Columbia, Maryland, and Nashua, New Hampshire, took the first and second spots, respectively. Meanwhile, St. Louis was named the most dangerous city, followed by Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and San Bernardino, California.
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