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WalletHub says Juneau is safest city in the US — in part because it has the second-lowest flood risk
Rating similar to #4 rank a year ago omits risk of glacial flooding; current study also ranks Juneau 46th of 182 cities in home and community safety
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Juneau is again positioned for some very big — and arguably very misleading — bragging rights due to a WalletHub study declaring Alaska’s capital city the safest among 182 surveyed in the United States. However, that ranking is largely based on Juneau’s number-one ranking for low natural disaster risk — because the survey doesn’t take glacial flooding into account.
The city finished fourth in WalletHub’s survey a year ago, based on the same first-place natural disaster ranking. Diana Polk, a WalletHub spokesperson, told the Juneau Independent at the time "glacial flooding is not included in these datasets and therefore was not factored into Juneau's natural-disaster risk score."
"This omission may help explain the apparent discrepancy between the ranking and the community's recent flood experiences, a hazard outside the scope of the available data," she wrote.
This year’s ratings declare Juneau "has the second-lowest risk of flooding, second-lowest risk of tornadoes, and seventh-lowest risk of wildfires."
Inquiries by the Juneau Independent to the author of the WalletHub report and at the website’s public questions section did not receive an immediate reply Monday afternoon.
Juneau for the past four years has been affected by large-scale glacial outburst floods from Suicide Basin that have damaged hundreds of homes plus other infrastructure in the Mendenhall Valley, making the issue the top declared priority of local leaders who are working with federal and other officials on short- and long-term solutions.
The Wallethub study also gives Juneau a near-top ranking of fourth for financial safety risk (up from 57th a year ago) and an above-average ranking of 46th for home and community safety (up from 86th last year).
"Juneau residents also have relatively strong financial footing, with the city having the 21st-lowest percentage of residents below the poverty line and the 20th-highest annual employment growth," the study’s summary of the city notes. "In addition, Juneau has the ninth-highest median credit score, indicating that residents generally have a strong track record of managing credit."
The home and community safety rating is because "it has the lowest murder rate and the lowest pedestrian fatality rates," according to WalletHub’s summary. "It also has the 62nd-lowest number of theft(s) and there were no terrorist attacks or related incidents recorded in the city during the past decade."
Juneau’s cumulative study score of 75.89 ranked ahead of Warwick, Rhode Island, at 72.35; and Overland Park, Kansas, at 70.19. The other Alaska city included in the study was Anchorage with a ranking of 88th, including second behind Juneau in lowest natural disaster risk. Anchorage ranked 18th in financial risk, and 155th in home and community risk.
The study used a 100-point scale for its overall rankings, with a maximum score of 60 points for home/community risk, and 20 points each for natural disaster and financial risk.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
