While Halloween is meant to be full of fright, the safety of everyone — and in particular young trick-or-treaters — is key for allowing families to enjoyably celebrate the holiday.
A recent study by the group Chamber of Commerce determined that one Massachusetts city, as well as one city in Connecticut, are among the safest for children and teens nationwide going door to door in pursuit of candy this fall.
Chamber of Commerce said that the city of Cambridge was the 13th safest city in the United States to go trick-or-treating and that Stamford, Connecticut, was the sixth safest city.
To create its ranking, Chamber of Commerce said it analyzed data from more than 300 U.S. cities and assigned equal weight to five “key metrics” — pedestrian fatalities, violent crime, property crime, the number of registered sex offenders and the number of law enforcement employees.
Chamber of Commerce added that it “standardized each metric by calculating it per 10,000 residents,” and that every city in its analysis had a population of at least 100,000 people.
The group’s final list comprised 25 cities deemed the safest, with Naperville, Illinois — a suburb of Chicago and the third largest city in the state of Illinois — taking the top slot for 2023 with a total score of 82 out of a possible 100 points across the five metrics.
For Cambridge, Chamber of Commerce found that there are about 25 law enforcement officials per 10,000 residents, as well as only 1.5 registered sex offenders by the same standard, 31 violent crime incidents, 212.4 property crime incidents and 0.09 pedestrian fatalities — giving it a total score of 73.
Stamford, Connecticut had nearly 22 law enforcement officials per 10,000 residents, as well as 5.4 registered sex offenders, 18.8 violent crime incidents, 132.1 property crime incidents and 0.09 pedestrian fatalities — all by the same rate of per 10,000 residents — according to Chamber of Commerce’s findings.
Chamber of Commerce said it sourced its data from agencies and organizations such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
- Read more: New England boasts No. 1 ‘safest’ US city for 2023, WalletHub study says, others follow close behind
The group also reminded families who intend to go trick-or-treating this Halloween to “stay mindful of your surroundings and carefully map out your route beforehand.” It added that extra steps such as using reflective tape on Halloween costumes and bags after dark can be deployed as precautions.
To see Chamber of Commerce’s study results and full report, click here.
