Every workday in America, 15 workers lose their lives on the job; a grim reminder that for millions of Americans, simply showing up to work may carry inherent risks that extend far beyond the typical office hazards of paper cuts and strained eyes. Moreover, with the industrial complexes moving from Europe to the US, the cases of injuries or fatalities at work may increase in the future.

While safety at work has improved over the last 50 years, falling from 10.9 incidents per 100,000 workers in 1972 to 2.4 incidents per 100,000 in 2023, it reminds us of the shared reality. In 2024, the national average for serious injuries was 13.9 per 100,000 workers, while the national fatality rate was 3.7 deaths per 100,000 workers. The risk employees take while working has a profound economic cost, as workplace injuries cost an estimated $250 billion annually.

However, despite the remarkable improvement, these national statistics mask a crucial truth: your risk of serious injury and/or possible death has to be considered in the context of your occupation. Moreover, geographic location matters when identifying workplace risks, as workers in some cities may experience potentially far worse outcomes because of industrial concentration, regulatory practices, local safety culture, or economic conditions.

The study from RTRLAW  presents data about the most dangerous states and cities in America for workers. Using federal injury and fatality databases, along with employment demographics and industries, it identified where the simple act of making a living came with the highest price tag. The study showed that there are major differences in worker safety across America, exposing environments that pose increased risk to workers.

At RTRLAW, we strive to meet the legal needs of workers injured on the job and those families that have lost a family member in a preventable workplace accident. Our attorneys, who are experienced in their respective areas, including all aspects of workers’ compensation and employer negligence, recognize the nuances that may arise for injured workers and advocate for their clients’ full compensation. Our clients receive the representation they need to stand up to the insurance companies when they refuse to provide compensation.

Key Findings:

• Ellabell, Georgia, has a severe injury rate of 74 per 100k workers, which is over 3,000 times higher than Los Angeles’s rate of 0.03 per 100k. This represents one of the largest workplace safety disparities ever documented in American cities.
• America’s largest metropolitan areas dominate the safest cities list, with New York-Newark (10+ million employed), Los Angeles-Long Beach (6.7+ million employed), and San Francisco-Oakland (2.4+ million employed) all showing injury rates below 0.22 per 100k.
• Among the most dangerous states is Ohio, leading with 4 cities in the top 10 most dangerous list, while Florida and Georgia each contribute 2 cities each.
• A clear pattern was noticed that the cities with over 1 million workers are among the safest, which can be attributed to the high concentration of office jobs and IT companies. On the other hand, cities with under 10,000 workers consistently dominate the most dangerous ranking, which is a signifier that smaller cities are more industrial, require hands-on work, and ultimately lead to more risks.
• Nearly all the safest cities are located on the East or West coasts, with coastal metropolitan areas showing steadily low injury rates while inland industrial cities dominate the dangerous rankings.
• The national average of 282 analyzed cities yielded 9 severe injuries per 100k employees.
• As of 2025, nearly 1 million USA residents were employed across all States.

 

What Makes Certain Work Risky

The level of risk is highly industry-dependent, and construction remains one of the most dangerous industries in America. The construction industry accounts for 19-20% of all worker deaths in the US annually, despite representing a smaller portion of the workforce. In 2020, construction workers had a fatal injury rate of 9.6 per 100,000 workers, while construction trades helpers specifically experienced a fatal work injury rate of 38.5 per 100,000 workers. This shows how particular positions in high-risk industries can be enormously more dangerous.

On the other hand, service-based economies have safer working conditions. The safest cities in our data, including New York-Newark, Los Angeles-Long Beach, and San Francisco-Oakland, have primarily white-collar industries related to retail, professional services, and IT. The following industries typically involve minimal exposure to heavy machinery, hazardous materials, or elevated work surfaces that drive injury rates in industrial settings.

Additionally, a predictable pattern of injuries is created by physical hazards. For instance, construction workers face physical hazards, and as the analysis showed, the most common type of injury is fingers and thumb(s) with 2,377 cases registered, followed by hip joint(s) with 489 cases. The concentration of heavy machinery, elevated work surfaces, electrical systems, and moving materials in industrial settings creates environments where a single mistake or equipment failure can result in severe injuries or fatalities, explaining why smaller industrial cities in our data show injury rates hundreds of times higher than service-based metropolitan areas. Some of the causes for injury registered were “an employee got injured while just stocking shelves and changing posture” and “an employee added chemicals to a mixer, which caused a dust explosion”.

The Most Dangerous and Safest Cities To Work In

The research ranks U.S. cities with the most serious rates of workplace injuries, where workers are enduring extraordinary risks that are higher than national averages. Ellabell, Georgia, tops the list with an astounding severe injury incidence rate of 726.74 per 100,000 workers. According to the data, it can be assumed that 1 of every 137 workers suffers a severe injury each year. Georgia dominates the most dangerous rankings with two first cities in the top 15, including Adairsville (311.11 per 100k), followed by Fort Pierce, Florida (270.27 per 100k), while Ohio contributes four cities to this dangerous list, from Groveport (258.06 per 100k) to Marietta (138.72 per 100k). The most dangerous cities tend to be industrial centers with populations less than 35,000 residents and severe injury rates that are extremely higher than in large metropolitan areas. These cities exhibit workplace environments where making a buck can result in life-altering vulnerabilities that require urgent safety attention by regulators, employers, and legal advocates who can ensure injured workers are compensated.

Ellabel, Georgia, is considered the most dangerous city in the U.S. to work in. With only 1,400 employed in 2024 and 10 recorded cases, the city demonstrates the 1st highest rate of 726 severe injuries per 100,000 workers within the country.

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California, is considered the safest city in the U.S. to work. With 6,694,398 workers in 2024 and 2 registered cases, the incident rate of serious injuries per 100,000 workers is only 0.03, which is the lowest index in the United States, suggesting that the service-based economy fosters a safe workforce environment.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities To Work In

Rank	State	City	Employed 2024	Severe injuries per 100k
1	Georgia	Ellabell	1,376	726.74
2	Georgia	Adairsville	2,250	311.11
3	Florida	Fort Pierce	2,590	270.27
4	Ohio	Groveport	3,100	258.06
5	Florida	Green Cove Springs	3,920	178.57
6	Texas	Pecos	6,370	141.29
7	Ohio	Marietta	5,046	138.72
8	Pennsylvania	Elizabethtown	6,490	107.86
9	Ohio	Medina	13,600	51.47
10	Ohio	Mentor	24,800	32.26

Top 10 Safest Cities To Work In

Rank	State	City	Employed 2024	Severe injuries per 100k
1	California	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim	6694398	0.03
2	California	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont	2486083	0.04
3	Washington	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue	2310863	0.043
4	Michigan	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn	2160518	0.046
5	Maryland	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson	1489469	0.067
6	Oregon	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro	1377121	0.073
7	Arizona	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler	2703656	0.074
8	Indiana	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood	1140702	0.088
9	North Carolina	Raleigh-Cary	847399	0.118
10	North Carolina	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia	1481565	0.135

Costs of Severe Injuries

The average workers’ compensation settlement amount in the United States is approximately $66,659, with a median of $38,331, though most workers receive between $2,000 and $40,000 for their claims. The body part injured significantly affects compensation levels, where an injured neck settlement is roughly $68,000, and an arm or shoulder is $51,750, with head injuries among the most severe and costly, averaging around $93,942 in settlements, while injuries affecting multiple body parts lead to settlements averaging $71,645. For all the dangerous cities, where injury rates exceed 700 injuries per 100,000 workers, the total costs of individual claims multiply exponentially into financial obligations that can devastate small employers and put a strain on insurance capacity, affecting the availability of coverage for all workers in those locations.

How To Protect Yourself At Work

Employers and employees are accountable for developing an effective and safe working environment. The employers are responsible for ensuring that employees are educated on safety guidelines and are wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Other practices include recognizing your surroundings and possible changes, as well as reporting unsafe conditions. Employers need to promote safety discussions openly, as any hazard report improves the working environment and safety. Unfortunately, many times preventable work injuries occur due to either a late report about unsafe conditions, or the issue was never reported. Additional safety training, as well as feedback sessions on potential pitfalls, may help ensure you are not working in an endangered environment.

What To Do If You Get Injured At Work

Take immediate action: if you are injured at work, you should first get medical attention as soon as possible, even if you have a minor injury. Remember that some injuries can get worse with time. Once you are injured, your employer must either take you to the employer’s medical facility, a walk-in clinic, a hospital, or a designated specialist to get medical help. You must inform your employer of the injury immediately and have it documented in writing, as each state has a time limit for filing workers’ compensation claims related to workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Prepare a detailed report of what happened, when it happened, any witnesses present, and keep a record of all the medical treatment you received. Any of the aforementioned documentation will help build your case.

Get professional help: workers’ compensation should cover your medical expenses and lost wages, but the reality is that insurance companies tend to minimize payouts, deny legitimate claims, and stall processing claims to pressure you into accepting unfair settlements. If your employer or insurance refuses to provide you with medical treatment, then you can seek assistance from the Commission, but navigating this complex system while recovering from an injury can be overwhelming. This is where RTRLAW can help; our attorneys have experience and knowledge of the tactics insurance companies use, and we will work diligently to ensure that you receive all the compensation you deserve. Do not accept the first settlement offer, and do not communicate with insurance companies by yourself, particularly if you’re facing long-term disability, disputed coverage, or inadequate compensation. In the high-risk cities identified in our analysis, where severe injuries are more common, having skilled legal representation isn’t just helpful, but essential for protecting your rights and securing your financial future.

Methodology: How We Ranked States & Cities

Data Collection: Workplace injury data was systematically collected from OSHA.gov using automated Python scripts to ensure comprehensive coverage and data consistency. The collection process focused on gathering registered injury cases, employment figures, and demographic information for all available cities across the United States. This automated approach eliminated manual data entry errors and ensured standardized data extraction across all geographic locations.

Sample Requirements: The study examined all cities and states in the U.S. with any and all complete workplace injury and employee counts data in OSHA databases. To be included in the final analysis, each city needed to have the following data: (1) recorded workplace injury cases that have been recorded with OSHA data, (2) total employee count for the year 2024, and (3) demographic data to produce injury rates per 100,000 workers. Any city with missing data was excluded from the research to ensure the integrity of the analysis.

Final Dataset: The final dataset consists of 282 cities that met all of the needed criteria. This total represented a complete cross-section of American cities in every state within the U.S. Each entry-state included the number of registered injury cases, total employed population as of 2024, generated severe injury rates per 100,000 workers (100,000 employees), and basic demographic information. The study included a range of cities, from small cities as few as industrial communities with less than 2,000 employees, up to major metropolitan areas employing millions of residents.

Study Limitations: There are several limitations to note when interpreting the findings. This analysis relies on OSHA-registered injuries and cases, which may not represent the actual injury rates in industries that do not have reporting compliance or are otherwise exempted from OSHA regulation. This study included the investigative definition of severe injuries, as laid out by the parameters of OSHA’s report recording, but did not account for other injuries, such as minor injuries or near-miss events that could provide contextual indications of safety concerns. Additionally, the reporting-based values of the data were taken at 2024, and therefore, did not account for seasonal employment fluctuations or more recent local industry changes that could impact injury occurrence patterns.

State	City	Severe Injuries per 100k
Georgia	Ellabell	726.74
Georgia	Adairsville	311.11
Florida	Fort Pierce	270.27
Ohio	Groveport	258.06
Florida	Green Cove Springs	178.57
Texas	Pecos	141.29
Ohio	Marietta	138.72
Pennsylvania	Elizabethtown	107.86
Ohio	Medina	51.47
Ohio	Mentor	32.26
Ohio	Delaware	30.84
Missouri	Saint Joseph	30.62
Ohio	Middletown	30.3
Texas	Midland	27.13
Florida	Wildwood-The Villages	26.44
Georgia	Dalton	25.3
Arkansas	Pine Bluff	25.2
Oklahoma	Enid	21.24
Arkansas	Jonesboro	21.22
Missouri	Saint Louis	20.58
Alabama	Cullman	20.05
Texas	Odessa	19.78
Georgia	Macon-Bibb County	18.6
Florida	Naples-Marco Island	17.1
Nebraska	Grand Island	16.25
Florida	Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor	16.22
Kansas	Kansas City	15.27
Florida	Pompano Beach	15.12
Ohio	Mansfield	14.97
Colorado	Pueblo	14.97
Texas	San Angelo	14.63
Mississippi	Hattiesburg	14.3
Alabama	Gadsden	14.27
Arkansas	Hot Springs	13.78
Illinois	Decatur	13.44
Oklahoma	Broken Arrow	13.11
Ohio	Lima	12.63
Georgia	Rome	12.56
Florida	Saint Petersburg	12.5
Illinois	Elk Grove Village	12.27
Alabama	Decatur	11.99
Montana	Billings	11.99
Texas	Irving	11.94
Texas	Waco	11.7
Florida	Punta Gorda	11.61
Pennsylvania	Williamsport	11.36
New York	Watertown-Fort Drum	11.11
Wisconsin	Sheboygan	11.06
Florida	Sebring	11.01
Texas	Lewisville	10.8
Ohio	Canton-Massillon	10.76
Georgia	Brunswick-St. Simons	10.73
Alabama	Auburn-Opelika	10.46
Ohio	Youngstown-Warren	10.39
Alabama	Mobile	10.32
Pennsylvania	Erie	10.21
Texas	Tyler	10.15
Kansas	Topeka	10.15
Texas	Longview	10.14
Georgia	Gainesville	10.08
Idaho	Pocatello	9.92
Kansas	Olathe	9.75
Texas	Texarkana	9.73
Idaho	Lewiston	9.7
Georgia	Hinesville	9.58
Pennsylvania	York-Hanover	9.56
Pennsylvania	Lebanon	9.5
Texas	Amarillo	9.48
Virginia	Newport News	9.47
Texas	Mesquite	9.36
Illinois	Rockford	9.34
Texas	Lubbock	9.27
Wisconsin	Janesville-Beloit	9.24
Nebraska	Lincoln	9.22
Pennsylvania	Harrisburg-Carlisle	9.09
North Dakota	Fargo	9.08
Florida	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota	9.01
New York	Jamaica	9.01
Alabama	Montgomery	8.99
Texas	Victoria	8.93
Alabama	Dothan	8.92
Missouri	Springfield	8.62
Wisconsin	Kenosha	8.44
Wisconsin	Eau Claire	8.34
Texas	Corpus Christi	8.18
Texas	Abilene	8.1
Missouri	Cape Girardeau	8.06
Oklahoma	Tulsa	8.04
Georgia	Albany	8.04
Florida	Panama City-Panama City Beach	7.8
Wisconsin	La Crosse-Onalaska	7.8
Nebraska	Omaha	7.76
Florida	Jacksonville	7.73
Pennsylvania	Gettysburg	7.71
Wisconsin	Oshkosh-Neenah	7.55
Texas	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands	7.5
Pennsylvania	Lancaster	7.49
Kansas	Wichita	7.44
Illinois	Aurora	7.43
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	7.41
Pennsylvania	Reading	7.27
Louisiana	Shreveport-Bossier City	7.23
Louisiana	Lake Charles	7.2
North Dakota	Grand Forks	7.14
Florida	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent	7.08
Florida	Lakeland-Winter Haven	7.01
Pennsylvania	Altoona	6.89
Arkansas	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers	6.89
Pennsylvania	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton	6.84
Ohio	Sandusky	6.81
Illinois	Springfield	6.74
Montana	Missoula	6.66
Wisconsin	Wausau	6.65
Georgia	Savannah	6.65
Louisiana	Hammond	6.63
Idaho	Twin Falls	6.62
West Virginia	Charleston	6.57
Missouri	Jefferson City	6.52
Texas	Garland	6.5
Florida	Cape Coral-Fort Myers	6.4
Texas	Brownsville-Harlingen	6.37
Florida	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford	6.34
Texas	El Paso	6.32
Florida	Hialeah	6.25
Alabama	Huntsville	6.2
Alabama	Anniston-Oxford	6.11
Ohio	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek	6.09
Texas	Beaumont-Port Arthur	6.06
New Jersey	Newark	6.06
Arkansas	Fort Smith	5.93
Idaho	Idaho Falls	5.91
Arkansas	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway	5.8
Oklahoma	Lawton	5.74
New York	Elmira	5.7
Florida	Ocala	5.68
Texas	San Antonio-New Braunfels	5.66
West Virginia	Morgantown	5.65
Texas	Sherman-Denison	5.63
Colorado	Greeley	5.6
North Dakota	Bismarck	5.47
Georgia	Columbus	5.46
Maine	Lewiston-Auburn	5.44
Maine	Bangor	5.34
Texas	College Station-Bryan	5.27
Pennsylvania	State College	5.12
Missouri	Joplin	5.11
Wisconsin	Green Bay	5.07
West Virginia	Parkersburg-Vienna	5.06
South Dakota	Rapid City	5
Montana	Great Falls	4.97
Texas	Killeen-Temple	4.97
North Dakota	Minot	4.91
Washington	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard	4.91
Georgia	Valdosta	4.86
Ohio	Springfield	4.82
Alabama	Birmingham	4.74
Wisconsin	Madison	4.69
Texas	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	4.61
Florida	Tallahassee	4.43
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	4.4
West Virginia	Beckley	4.29
Alabama	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley	4.29
Ohio	Columbus	4.2
Texas	Eagle Pass	4.16
Florida	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin	4.16
Florida	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach	4.15
Georgia	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell	4.11
New York	Ithaca	4.1
Louisiana	New Orleans-Metairie	4.08
Florida	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater	4.07
Ohio	Toledo	4.05
Alabama	Tuscaloosa	3.98
New York	Syracuse	3.88
Colorado	Grand Junction	3.76
Georgia	Augusta-Richmond County	3.72
Georgia	Athens-Clarke County	3.7
Colorado	Denver-Aurora-Centennial	3.69
Wisconsin	Appleton	3.65
Texas	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos	3.62
Wisconsin	Fond Du Lac	3.61
Ohio	Cincinnati	3.58
Colorado	Colorado Springs	3.57
Delaware	Dover	3.53
Missouri	Columbia	3.53
Massachusetts	Amherst Town-Northampton	3.52
New York	Albany-Schenectady-Troy	3.51
Louisiana	Baton Rouge	3.5
Texas	Laredo	3.39
Illinois	Peoria	3.38
Georgia	Warner Robins	3.34
West Virginia	Wheeling	3.33
Texas	Mcallen-Edinburg-Mission	3.3
Illinois	Champaign-Urbana	3.24
Louisiana	Monroe	3.14
Massachusetts	Pittsfield	3.14
New Jersey	Vineland	3.06
Texas	Wichita Falls	3.01
Ohio	Cleveland	3.01
Florida	Gainesville	2.99
Wisconsin	Racine-Mount Pleasant	2.97
New York	Bronx	2.96
New York	Rochester	2.92
Alabama	Florence-Muscle Shoals	2.91
Wisconsin	Milwaukee-Waukesha	2.7
Missouri	Kansas City	2.67
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	2.66
Florida	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville	2.63
Pennsylvania	Chambersburg	2.59
Colorado	Boulder	2.57
West Virginia	Huntington-Ashland	2.54
Connecticut	New Haven	2.53
New Jersey	Trenton-Princeton	2.52
New Hampshire	Manchester-Nashua	2.51
Mississippi	Jackson	2.49
Idaho	Boise City	2.48
Florida	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach	2.48
New York	Buffalo-Cheektowaga	2.33
New York	Kingston	2.29
Louisiana	Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux	2.29
Illinois	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin	2.19
Mississippi	Gulfport-Biloxi	2.13
Connecticut	Norwich-New London-Willimantic	2.11
Montana	Helena	2.07
New Mexico	Farmington	2
Connecticut	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury	1.93
Ohio	Weirton-Steubenville(2)	1.92
Florida	Homosassa Springs	1.87
New York	Glens Falls	1.69
New Jersey	Atlantic City-Hammonton	1.67
Louisiana	Alexandria	1.58
New York	Utica-Rome	1.57
Louisiana	Lafayette	1.52
New York	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh	1.47
Kansas	Lawrence	1.42
Ohio	Akron	1.39
Massachusetts	Springfield	1.34
North Carolina	Jacksonville	1.34
North Carolina	Fayetteville	1.3
Maine	Portland-South Portland	1.28
Montana	Bozeman	1.28
Michigan	Monroe	1.24
Virginia	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford	1.09
Massachusetts	Worcester	1.08
Pennsylvania	Scranton–Wilkes-Barre	1.07
Illinois	Bloomington	1.03
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington	0.97
Colorado	Fort Collins-Loveland	0.95
North Carolina	Asheville	0.94
New York	Binghamton	0.94
California	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad	0.92
Connecticut	Waterbury-Shelton	0.83
Virginia	Charlottesville	0.83
Washington	Yakima	0.81
Virginia	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk	0.79
District Of Columbia	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	0.76
Rhode Island	Providence-Warwick	0.67
Connecticut	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford	0.65
New Mexico	Albuquerque	0.65
South Carolina	Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach	0.58
Massachusetts	Boston-Cambridge-Newton	0.5
Alaska	Anchorage	0.5
South Carolina	Charleston-North Charleston	0.45
Hawaii	Urban Honolulu	0.43
Nevada	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas	0.41
California	Santa Rosa-Petaluma	0.41
Nevada	Reno	0.33
California	Bakersfield-Delano	0.25
Iowa	Des Moines-West Des Moines	0.24
New York	New York-Newark-Jersey City	0.22
Tennessee	Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin	0.17
Minnesota	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington	0.14
Virginia	Richmond	0.14
North Carolina	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia	0.13
North Carolina	Raleigh-Cary	0.12
Indiana	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood	0.09
Arizona	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler	0.07
Oregon	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro	0.07
Maryland	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson	0.07
Michigan	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn	0.05
Washington	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue	0.04
California	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont	0.04
California	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim	0.03