Best State Capitals for Safety & More

State capitals aren’t just for lawmaking. Often, they’re thriving cities with a lot of economic and cultural value. In fact, they can be some of the best places to live in America. But not all state capitals are created equal. Though 17 of them are the largest cities in their states, the biggest population doesn’t always represent the best quality of life. Some have rampant poverty problems. For example, over 28% of the population of Hartford, CT lives in poverty, compared to 11.4% of the entire United States.

Since state capitals are the seat of each state’s government, they can also be very hectic and politically-charged environments. Naturally, safety is one big consideration when deciding whether to live in a state capital – from its preparedness to deal with violence to its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other considerations like traffic fatalities.

In order to determine which state capitals make the best homes, WalletHub compared all 50 across 49 key indicators of affordability, economic well-being, quality of education and health, and quality of life. Our data set ranges from the cost of living to K–12 school-system quality to the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated.

Main Findings

Best State Capitals

Note: With the exception of “State Capital Index,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

Ask the Experts

Living in a state capital offers many perks, but there are tradeoffs as well. For more insight, we asked a panel of experts to weigh in with their thoughts on the following key questions:

1. What are the benefits and drawbacks to living in a state’s capital city?
2. How have the demographics of capital cities changed in recent years?
3. In evaluating the best state capitals to live in, what are the top five indicators?
4. How does exempting government buildings from local property taxes affect the fiscal well-being of capital cities?
5. Are residents of capital cities more likely to be politically engaged, all else equal?

Ask the Experts

John Rennie Short
Professor, School of Public Policy – University of Maryland Baltimore County
Read More

Dick Simpson
Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois at Chicago and a former Chicago alderman
Read More

Christopher W. Larimer
Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Program Coordinator, Master of Public Policy Program – University of Northern Iowa
Read More

Jaro Bilocerkowycz
Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science – University of Dayton
Read More

Methodology

In order to identify the best state capitals to live in, WalletHub compared all 50 across four key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Economic Well-Being, 3) Quality of Education & Health and 4) Quality of Life.

We evaluated those dimensions using compiled 49 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most livable state capital. Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (*) were available only at the state level. For metrics marked with two asterisks (**), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.

We then determined each state capital’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its “State Capital Index” and used the resulting indexes to rank-order the states.

Affordability – Total Points: 25

• Cost of Living: Double Weight (~10.00 Points)
• Median Household Income: Double Weight (~10.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was adjusted for the cost of living.
• Housing Costs: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
  Note: This composite metric was calculated as follows: (Median House Price / Median Annual Household Income); (Median Rent Price / Median Annual Household Income).

Economic Well-Being – Total Points: 25

• Population Growth: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
• Income Growth: Double Weight (~3.70 Points)
• Median Credit Score: Half Weight (~0.93 Points)
• Income Inequality: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
• Debt as a Share of Median Income: Double Weight (~3.70 Points)
• Share of Population Living in Poverty: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
• Unemployment Rate: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
• Underemployment Rate: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
• Growth in Number of Businesses (2019 vs 2018): Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
• Foreclosure Rate: Half Weight (~0.93 Points)
• Bankruptcy Rate: Half Weight (~0.93 Points)
• Building-Permit Activity: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the number of new unit permits pulled per capita.
• Share of State, Local & Federal Government Employees: Full Weight (~1.85 Points)

Quality of Education & Health – Total Points: 25

• K–12 School-System Quality: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the share of public schools rated by GreatSchools.org with an above average score.
• High School Graduation Rate: Double Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Average University Score: Double Weight (~2.63 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “2022 Best Colleges & Universities” ranking.
• Number of Universities in Top 1,015: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “2022 Best Colleges & Universities” ranking.
• Share of Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree: Double Weight (~2.63 Points)
  Note: “Adults” include the population aged 25 and older.
• Percentage of Residents Who Are Fully Vaccinated: Double Weight (~2.63 Points)
• Share of Population with Health-Insurance Coverage: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
  Note: “Population” includes ages 16 and older.
• Quality of Public Hospital System: Double* Weight (~2.63 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on data from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
• Hospital Beds per Capita**: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
• Premature-Death Rate: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
  Note: This metric measures average years of potential life lost.
• Infant-Mortality Rate: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
• Share of Adults in Good Health: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on a health survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Good Health” includes responses of “good,” “very good” and “excellent” health. “Adults” include respondents aged 18 and older.
• Adult Obesity Rate: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)
• Physical Inactivity: Full Weight (~1.32 Points)

Quality of Life – Total Points: 25

• Share of Millennial Newcomers: Double Weight (~2.13 Points)
• Number of Attractions: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
  Note: “Attractions” include, for instance, zoos, museums and theaters.
• Nightlife Options per Capita (sqrt of pop): Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Restaurants per Capita (sqrt of pop): Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Affordable Restaurants with Ratings of 4.5+ Stars: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Coffee Shops per Capita (sqrt of pop): Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Movie Theaters per Capita (sqrt of pop): Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Fitness Centers per Capita (sqrt of pop): Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Walkability: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on data from Walk Score.
• Access to Public Transportation: Double Weight (~2.13 Points)
• Average Commute Time: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Driving Fatalities per Capita: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Average Weekly Work Hours: Double Weight (~2.13 Points)
• Mildness of Weather: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “Cities with the Best & Worst Weather“ ranking.
• Air Quality: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
• Sports Fan-Friendliness: Full Weight (~1.06 Points)
  Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “Best Sports Cities“ ranking.
• Violent-Crime Rate: Double Weight (~2.13 Points)
• Property-Crime Rate: Double Weight (~2.13 Points)
• Perception of Safety (Safety walking alone during daylight/at night): Half Weight (~0.53 Points)
  Note: These data are based on perceptions of visitors of the Numbeo website in the past 3 years. If the value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if the value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high.

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Council for Community and Economic Research, Chmura Economics & Analytics, ATTOM Data Solutions, TransUnion, GreatSchools.org, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources & Services Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, County Health Rankings, Walk Score, Administrative Office of the United States Courts, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Numbeo, United States Environmental Protection Agency and WalletHub research.

Supporting Video Files:

• YouTube - National (for web embedding)
• YouTube - Austin, TX (for web embedding)
• Raw video files (for editing into clips)