Gilbert was rated as the safest city in Arizona in a recent study that reviewed home and community, natural disaster risk and financial safety.

It came in 29th overall out of 182 U.S. cities in WalletHub’s “Safest Cities in America (2025).”

Chandler and Scottsdale were slotted at No. 40 and 41, respectively, whereas Glendale and Phoenix were near the bottom of barrel (131 and 136) as the least safe in the state.

Of the three main categories in the study, Gilbert shined as the ninth-best for home and community while coming in 36th for financial safety.

The biggest knock on the desert city came in natural disaster risk, Gilbert rated T-155th.

Warwick, Rhode Island, was crowned the safest city in America and Overland Park, Kansas, Burlington, Vermont, Juneau, Alaska and Yonkers, New York rounded out the top five.

How did Gilbert, other Arizona cities stack up in safety study?

The study awarded U.S. cities up to 100 points, and home and community was worth the most at 60 points. Besides Gilbert’s top-10 posting, Chandler (19th), Scottsdale (22nd) and Peoria (39th) all made the top 50.

Financial safety, which accounted for 20 points, was also a consistent strength for Arizona cities, as five of the nine in the study were inside the top 50 and all were in the top 100 — Tucson was the lowest at 98th.

Though Tucson came in 112th overall, it was the only Arizona city to rank in the top 100 for natural disaster risk (27th).

Which cities occupied the undesirable bottom five spots, or were rated the least safe in the country?

Here they are in order, 178th to 182nd:

• Baltimore, Maryland
• Detroit, Michigan
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Memphis, Tennessee
• New Orleans, Louisiana.

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Two hikers were rescued from the peak of a mountain in northern Arizona after being struck by lightning on Tuesday.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the rescue, saying the hikers were saved from the summit of Humphreys Peak. 

On Tuesday, the sheriff’s deputies received a call from two male hikers who told officers they had been struck by lightning.

Surprisingly, the two stranded hikers didn’t know each other and were from Flagstaff and Canada.

They were taking photos while at the summit of the mountain when they were hit by lightning, the sheriff’s office confirmed. 

Search-and-rescue teams were immediately deployed to the trailhead.

Officials state they requested aircraft support but were denied due to severe weather, including lightning, hail, and heavy rain.

According to the sheriff’s office, rescue teams used two UTV vehicles to reach the victims before completing the rest of the rescue on foot.

“He reported that the other injured hiker had been unable to continue and had stopped near the saddle between Humphreys and Agassiz Peaks, roughly 0.7 miles farther up the trail at 11,800 feet,” read a press release from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.

First responders had to use a litter carry-out to extract the second victim since he was unable to walk due to the steep terrain and his physical condition. 

Both hikers were successfully taken to the Incident Command Post in the area, where an ambulance then drove them both to Flagstaff Medical Center for treatment and observation.

According to the National Weather Service, lightning kills about 20 people in the U.S. each year, and hundreds more are severely injured.

Lightning strikes occur about 25 million times a year in the U.S.