What’s the ‘spookiest’ state when it comes to crime?

When it comes to the “spookiest” states — we’re talking criminals, not goblins and ghosts — look to the South oregon the halfway of the nation.

With Halloween upon america and with tons of caller chatter astir transgression —  justified oregon not — I filled my trusty spreadsheet with information from six caller scorecards tied to transgression and wide safety. Where should folks beryllium worried?

The numbers — an mean ranking — archer maine the “scariest” spot to unrecorded is Arkansas, which placed successful the bottommost 10 successful 5 of the six rankings. It was followed by Texas. (Did I conscionable say, “Texas”?) Then Alabama, Oklahoma and Montana.

The least-spooky places — what you’d different telephone the “safest” states — connected my consolidated scorecard were decidedly New England. No. 1 was Massachusetts, which made the Top 10 successful 3 scorecards, past Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah.

California, with each six scorecards mashed together, got a mid-range No. 23 ranking, wedged betwixt Virginia and Ohio.

Like I often say, rankings similar these are portion science, portion creation — truthful this is nary definitive ruling. But here’s however California fared successful this witches’ brew of yardsticks — and the spookiest and safest states for each …

Crimes per capita: California ranked No. 36 retired of 50 states successful the US News scorecard tied to FBI transgression stats. Spookiest? New Mexico, Alaska and Louisiana. Least spooky? Maine, New Hampshire and Idaho.

Jailings: California ranked 20th connected the Sentencing Project’s gradings based connected incarceration rates, per capita. Spookiest? Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Minimally worrisome? Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.

Law enforcement spending: Consumers Affairs’ tally of officers connected the bushed and dollars spent per capita found California with the seventh-highest outlays per resident. Spookiest lows? Idaho, South Dakota and Kentucky. Tops? Louisiana, Illinois, and New York.

Polling: Safewise surveys connected transgression fears placed California 23rd. Most spooked? Nebraska, New York, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Least scared: Oregon, Alaska and Minnesota.

Broad concerns: California ranked 21st successful WalletHub’s look astatine information issues from financial, proscription and idiosyncratic — positive exigency preparation. Spookiest?  Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Calmest? Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.

Crime browsing: Anxiety levels should parallel online searches for “crime,” and Google Trends shows California with the 13th highest pace. Most spooked? Louisiana, Delaware and Wyoming. Least anxious? Hawaii, South Dakota, and Utah.

The afloat state-by-state results are mapped astatine bit.ly/spookystates.

Jonathan Lansner is the concern columnist for the Southern California News Group. He tin beryllium reached astatine jlansner@scng.com