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Ranking: Criminals more active in warm-weather states
States with colder weather tend to be safer than those in the Sun Belt. The rankings place Minnesota 17th, up two spots from the previous year.
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Share on DiggStates with colder weather tend to be safer than those in the Sun Belt.
That's what a national map looks like, according to a crime analysis released this week.
The rankings, published by a division of Congressional Quarterly, place Minnesota 17th, up two spots from the previous year.
Also, New Hampshire has dethroned North Dakota from its 10-year reign at the top of the annual list. It now stands at No. 3.
As for the other Upper Midwest states: South Dakota is fifth, Iowa eighth and Wisconsin 10th.
The rankings are determined using rates for six crime categories -- murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, and motor vehicle theft -- by calculating a state's position relative to the national average for each category. The farther below the national average a state's crime rate is, the safer it ranks; the farther above the national average, the more dangerous.
Others in the top 10 include:
No. 2: Maine
No. 4: Vermont
No. 6: Wyoming
No. 7: Montana
No. 9: Idaho
At the bottom, 40 through 50 is in this order: Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Alaska, Maryland, Tennessee, Arizona, South Carolina, New Mexico, Louisiana and Nevada.
Congressional Quarterly Inc. is a private, independent news gathering and publishing firm based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by the Florida-based Times Publishing Co., publisher of the St. Petersburg Times.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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