Map details eight states most at risk if a nuclear war breaks out

The eight most dangerous states to live in if nuclear war broke out have been revealed, as tensions between countries across the world continue to escalate.

If you've ever wondered whether some parts of the US would be safer than others if the unthinkable happened, experts have some pretty sobering answers.

And no day feels more apt to outline the possibilities than today (August 29), which happens to be International Day against Nuclear Tests.

It comes as Trump continues to urge that Iran should never be allowed the capabilities to develop a nuclear weapon, amid an ongoing stand-off between the two countries with no end in sight.

In a previous post on Truth Social, the president wrote: "The number one goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a nuclear weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

But it's not just the US and Iran where nuclear weapons are a point of contention.

Fears of nuclear war continue amid global conflicts (Getty Stock Photo)

Amid the conflict between Russian and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's leading TV propagandist called for a nuclear strike on the UK.

As for potential strikes in the US, some states would be much safer than others as a result of the placement of missile silos the US has on land.

A 2024 Newsweek report analyzing these placements found that eight states would be the most affected by radiation exposure risk, and are therefore the most dangerous states to live in.

These are:

• Montana
• Wyoming
• Colorado
• Nebraska
• South Dakota
• North Dakota
• Iowa
• Minnesota

Here the US states considered to be the most dangerous in the event of a nuclear war (LADbible)

On the flip side, 15 states were considered the ‘safest’ to live in, all things considered, which were:

• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Vermont
• Massachusetts
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut
• New York
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Delaware
• Maryland
• District of Columbia
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Florida
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Tennessee
• Kentucky
• Ohio
• Indiana
• Michigan

However, the 'safety' of these states would all be dependent on how much radiation residents might be exposed to if their main nuclear sites were hit.

A fallout map by the Scientific American Magazine has previously shown just where the most impact would be should there be a nuclear attack on missile silos in the US heartland, namely Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, and North Dakota.

The locations a nuclear strike could target in the US - the yellow dots represent missile silos (Sébastien Philippe, Svitlana Lavrenchuk and Ivan Stepanov/Scientific American)

It is important to note that this is a simulation and was created before the attack on Iran.

The colors represent the 'average exposure risk calculated for each latitude and longitude point based on a year's worth of data'.

Outside of the US, a few other countries have also been touted as being the 'safest' in the wake of a possible nuclear war.

But with all of that being said, nowhere is particularly 'safe' if modern nuclear weapons are used in a global conflict, according to experts who spoke to Newsweek.

John Erath, the Senior Policy Director for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said: “While those who live near military facilities, ICBM silos in the Midwest or submarine bases along the coasts might bear the most immediate and severe consequences of a nuclear attack, there's no question: ANY nuclear war or weapons detonation would be bad for everyone.

“Nowhere is truly 'safe' from fallout and other consequences like contamination of food and water supplies and prolonged radiation exposure.”