New Jersey is the second-safest state after dark, a study says
New Jersey is the second-safest state for people looking to celebrate a night out at bars and clubs, according to a study released this month.
The Garden State trailed only its neighbor New York in the study, conducted by the criminal defense firm Suzuki Law Offices. The Arizona-based firm compiled numbers from the FBI Crime Data Explorer and World Population Review in assigning a score to all 50 states.
The ranking was based on several factors that determine safety, including the ratio of police officers to residents and the frequency of both victim-related crimes, such as theft or harm, and society-related crimes, such as drunken driving or drug abuse.
New Jersey scored an 80.46 out of 100, while New York led the way with a 90.68. The states rounding out the top five were Florida (76.65), Massachusetts (72.18) and Mississippi (71.03).
A closer look at the data shows New Jersey has the second-lowest total of society-related crimes after New York, which has the lowest frequency of both kinds of crime used in the study. New Jersey also boasts the eighth-highest police density, with 221 officers per 100,000 residents.
Tennessee is the least safe state in the country at night, with a score of just 37.67, according to the data. The others that finished with the lowest scores are Nevada (38.25), Delaware (39.12), Arkansas (39.76) and Montana (41.46).
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New Jersey is second-safest state after dark, study says
