The Institute for Economics and Peace has unveiled its yearly list ranking the U.S. states from MOST PEACEFUL to LEAST PEACEFUL. And for 11 years running, Wyoming seems to fall somewhere in the middle ground.

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The rankings are based on five criteria: Homicides per capita, violent crimes, incarceration rate, number of police employees, and availability of small arms. I'm not sure why they penalize states for having more cops, but whatever.

The top 10 most peaceful states in 2011 were: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah, North Dakota, Washington, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Iowa.

The 10 least peaceful states were: Louisiana, Tennessee, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Mississippi.

Wyoming had ended up at #17 with a Peace Index of 2.26, a homicide rate of 1.04, violent crimes at 1.52, incarceration at 3.31, police employees 3.27 and small arms at 3.99.

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