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In 2014, not only did New York rank lowest in the number of burglaries, but it scored among the US states with the lowest motor vehicle theft rates as well. With only 257.2 burglary occurrences per 100,000 people, New York is now the safest place for property owners and their belongings. Closely following are Virginia (277.77), Wyoming (289.1) and New Hampshire (313.7).

​Densely Populated Doesn’t Equal Higher Crime Rates

There are several different factors that can contribute to a state having high or low crime rates. Among these are transportation trends, climate, population density, and economic conditions. While it’s true that crime remains a huge issue in many of the United States’ most densely populated areas, this does not seem to apply to such states as New York and Virginia, with populations of 19.7 million and 8.3 million respectively. These are considerably higher than that of New Mexico, at 2.1 million, and Arkansas, at 3.0 million, which ranked as the two worst states for burglary rates in 2014.

High Gun Ownership, Low Crime Rates, in Wyoming

Wyoming boasts a mere 289.1 annual burglaries per 100,000 people, despite a 60% rate of gun ownership among the citizens of the state. Before you consider moving to this mountain- and rangeland-covered locality, do note that this peaceful state also has other things to offer due to its sparse population, such as a relative absence of vehicular traffic and shorter lines in department stores, even during the busiest times of the year. It is also worth mentioning that much more of the state's population live in rural areas, which have statistically lower burglary rates than urban centers. And while Wyoming does not have a lot of people, as mentioned earlier, it does have the highest rate of gun ownership in the United States, putting it ahead of Idaho, Alaska, and Montana.

New Hampshire: Few Burglaries and Many Incarcerations

New Hampshire has the distinction of having one of the lowest crime rates in the United States, burglaries included, and apparently for good reason. The state has median income levels that are well above the national average, and its relatively stable population has not overly stressed its well-established infrastructure. Furthermore, located within the "Ivy League" ring of colleges and university, New Hampshire also has a quality secondary and post-secondary public instruction infrastructure, and several nationally respected, privately funded educational institutes at all levels as well. Many of New Hampshire's smaller towns also utilize a "town meeting" legislative process, which actively involves residents in policymaking and holds people more accountable to more another. In New Hampshire, as with many other places, it would appear that a relative ease of access to educational and career process, and the bestowing of governmental responsibilities upon the general populace, has made its people into a proud one, and its denizens less likely to steal from their neighbors.

Preventing Burglary in Future

Despite the problems that still do exist in the areas looked at heretofore, we must realize that nowhere is perfect, whether in terms of safety, unbiased justice, or otherwise. Therefore, we must look at the positive attributes that have allowed these states to possess such low burglary rates, and find ways to integrate them into other places where burglary is a real problem.