The United States Peace Index (USPI) is a measurement of American States by their peacefulness. Created by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the creators of the Global Peace Index, it is said to be the first in a series of National sub-divisions by their peacefulness. The USPI was created first due to plentiful data and a large amount of diversity between states for level of peace. The United States ranked 85/149 on the Global Peace index for 2010. The index was released on 6 April 2011, at 00:01 Eastern Time.
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There are five peace indicators that make up the USPI. The scores for Number of Homicides per 100,000 people, Number of violent crimes per 100,000 people, Jailed population per 100,000 people, Police officers per 100,000 people, and ease of access to small arms are averaged together to form a state's score. Maine scored perfectly on three of the five indicators, so it did well in the index. The United States as a whole scored slightly below average in the 2010 Global Peace Index. It has the highest percentage of its population in Prison, followed closely by Russia, Rwanda, Cuba, and North Korea. The country scored slightly above world average for homicides and violent-crimes per capita, though it scored slightly below average for arms access. In 2010, the United States had an overall score of 2.056, and ranked 85 of 149 countries included.
The index also includes a map and list for changes in peacefulness from 1991-2009. States are scored in this section by percent, either positive or negative. As a nation, it says that the United States has improved in peacefulness since 1991. However, some states have still decreased dramatically since 1991. North Dakota decreased in peacefulness by 47.6% from 1991-2009.
| 2011 Rank | State | 2011 Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maine | 1.34 |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 1.50 |
| 3 | Vermont | 1.54 |
| 4 | Minnesota | 1.62 |
| 5 | North Dakota | 1.71 |
| 6 | Utah | 1.75 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 1.80 |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 1.83 |
| 9 | Iowa | 1.85 |
| 10 | Washington | 1.87 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 1.88 |
| 12 | Hawaii | 1.91 |
| 13 | Oregon | 2.08 |
| 14 | South Dakota | 2.17 |
| 15 | Connecticut | 2.21 |
| 16 | Idaho | 2.24 |
| 17 | Montana | 2.28 |
| 17 | West Virginia | 2.28 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 2.30 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 2.39 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | 2.42 |
| 22 | Ohio | 2.43 |
| 23 | Wyoming | 2.49 |
| 24 | Indiana | 2.50 |
| 25 | Virginia | 2.52 |
| 26 | New Jersey | 2.61 |
| 27 | Kansas | 2.63 |
| 28 | Colorado | 2.66 |
| 29 | New York | 2.69 |
| 30 | Alaska | 2.70 |
| 31 | Michigan | 2.79 |
| 31 | North Carolina | 2.79 |
| 33 | California | 2.89 |
| 34 | Mississippi | 2.97 |
| 35 | Illinois | 2.98 |
| 36 | Arizona | 3.14 |
| 36 | Delaware | 3.14 |
| 38 | New Mexico | 3.16 |
| 39 | Georgia | 3.18 |
| 40 | Missouri | 3.21 |
| 41 | Maryland | 3.24 |
| 42 | South Carolina | 3.26 |
| 43 | Oklahoma | 3.27 |
| 44 | Arkansas | 3.30 |
| 44 | Texas | 3.30 |
| 46 | Alabama | 3.42 |
| 47 | Florida | 3.50 |
| 47 | Nevada | 3.50 |
| 49 | Tennessee | 3.61 |
| 50 | Louisiana | 3.97 |
^ All information in table from "United States Peace Index". Vision of Humanity. Retrieved 2011-04-06.