Perceived Neighborhood Safety
Feeling safe and secure at home, work, and play is basic to a sense of well-being.
• King County adults were asked 6 questions about how often they worry about specific safety threats. Answers to these questions were combined into a perceived safety scale with a possible score between 6 (Low) and 30 (High). (figure 1) A score of 6 means frequent worry and a score of 30 means no worry.
• In 2007, the average score in King County was 23.5. South Region showed a significantly lower perception of safety than the other Regions.
• From 2001 to 2007, only residents of Seattle reported an increase in feeling safer in their neighborhoods.
• The table below indicates where people are most concerned about specific safety threats. In 2007, only 5% of King County adults said that they worried about being physically attacked by someone they did not know whereas 18% said they worried about children’s safety in the neighborhood. (figure 2)
• People ages 65 and older reported feeling greater safety in their neighborhoods than people ages 25-44. (figure 3)
• People with incomes of $50,000 or more had higher perceptions of neighborhood safety than people with incomes between $15,000 and $24,999.
• People with a college education felt safer than those with less education.
• The perception of neighborhood safety did not vary by gender or race/ethnicity.
Data Source, Definitions, and Limitations
The safe neighborhood measures are from the King County Community Health Survey, 2001, 2004 and 2007, which adapted questions on stressors and worries from the Eastside Village Healthy Worker Community Health Survey (Amy Schultz et al., University of Michigan). This telephone survey of adults living in King County was conducted in Spanish as well as English for the first time in 2007. The limitations of an English-and-Spanish-only telephone survey include the following: a) people who do not have a land line telephone or who do not speak English or Spanish are excluded, and b) people who have less education and lower incomes are underrepresented.
