Delaware ranks as the eighth-worst state for raising a child, according to a recent SafeHome.org study.

SafeHome.org, an organization of home security experts who aim to make communities safer, examined data on child abuse, homicides, school shootings and poverty to determine its rankings of the best and worst states for raising children in the United States.

New Hampshire topped this study, which included the District of Columbia, and Louisiana was at the bottom.

The top 10 best states

New Hampshire Hawaii Vermont Maryland North Dakota Maine Minnesota Colorado Connecticut Iowa

The top 10 worst states

Louisiana Mississippi New Mexico West Virginia Alabama Oklahoma Texas Delaware Arkansas Kentucky

Four of the top 10 states are in the Northeast, and more than half of the bottom 10 states are in the Deep South, SafeHome.org noted.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW GRAPHIC

Here is how Delaware did in the study:

Child abuse

Delaware had 6,971 reports of child abuse in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' "Child Maltreatment 2016" report referenced by SafeHome.org.

In 2016, the state had 1,572 child abuse victims, down 32.7 percent from the 2,335 victims in 2012, according to that same report.

SafeHome.org did not provide a ranking of the states in the area of child abuse.

It did note that a child abuse report is made every 10 seconds in the United States.

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Homicides

In 2016, Delaware had four homicide victims younger than 18, according to the FBI data referenced by SafeHome.org.

SafeHome.org did not provide a complete ranking for the states' homicides, but the group did provide lists of the top 10 and bottom 10 states.

Top 10 states: (1) North Dakota – which reported no youth homicides in 2016, (2) Maine, (3) Connecticut, (4) Rhode Island, (5) Oregon, (6) Nebraska, (7) Massachusetts, (8) Washington, (9) Minnesota and (10) New Hampshire.

Bottom 10 states: (50) District of Columbia – with more than 1,200 homicide victims younger than 18 in 2016, (49) New Mexico, (48) Illinois, (47) Louisiana, (46) Vermont, (45) Idaho, (44) Nevada, (43) Wyoming, (42) Missouri and (41) Oklahoma.

Florida did not report its numbers to the national database, and the 2010 figures were the only ones available for Alabama.

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School shootings

SafeHome.org used the Washington Post's database to study school shootings.

There have been more than 400 school shootings in the United States since Columbine in 1999, according to the database.

Delaware is one of the 13 states that have not had a school shooting. The others are Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

SafeHome.org ranked the states that had shootings according to their total casualties (deaths and injuries). Connecticut had the highest rate of casualties, and New Jersey had the lowest.

Top 10 states: (1) New Jersey, (2) Virginia, (3) Massachusetts, (4) New York, (5) Arizona, (6) Utah, (7) Arkansas, (8) Wisconsin, (9) Missouri and (10) Hawaii.

Bottom 10 states: (38) Connecticut, (37) Colorado, (36) District of Columbia, (35) Kentucky, (34) Oregon, (33) New Mexico, (32) Minnesota, (31) Florida, (30) Louisiana and (29) Nevada.

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Poverty

About 1 in 5 children live in a household where the income is below the federal poverty line, SafeHome.org noted. In 2016, that figure was $24,339 for a family of four with two children.

In 2017, Louisiana led the nation with 28 percent of kids living in poverty while New Hampshire had the lowest rate at 10 percent, according to the Kids Count data cited by SafeHome.org. Delaware was tied for the No. 28 spot with 18 percent.

Further study

Learn more about SafeHome.org's analysis at www.safehome.org/resources/best-states-raise-children.

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