Not the pretty side of our society, but when picking somewhere to homestead we
should look at the crime statistics. While state level stats can be skewed by large cities, they can provide you an overall flavor of what crime is like in a state...
So here is a blog post that has the following stats:
Crime rates by state - are crimes getting better or worse
Gun ownership
Equipment theft and recovery
Murder rates
Motor vehicle thefts
Burglary rates
http://startoffhomesteading.com/crime-homestead/
I hope people find this useful.
Gaz