The Institute for Economics and Peace estimated each country's Global Peace Index based on safety levels, conflict surrounding a country and the extent of militarisation. The amount of money that the U.S. funnels into its military was one element that has consistently kept the country out of the top 100 peaceful nations. 

The study also estimated the economic impact of violence. According to the report, violence costs the U.S. $1.7 trillion annually, or 11 percent of the country's GDP and more than $5,000 per U.S. citizen. 

Military spending was just a part of the U.S.'s ranking. Homicide and incarceration rates also pushed the country further down the list. 

But when it comes to ranking public attitudes and confidence in society's stability, the United States was 19th in the world, indicating that many U.S. citizens are segregated from the country's reality of violence taking place at home or abroad.

Violence in Philadelphia

For those who live in neighborhoods plagued by gun violence, that reality is close to home. According to the Gun Crisis Reporting Project, 16 people were shot in multiple areas throughout Philadelphia in a single weekend, from June 21 to June 22.

However, fear in Philadelphia is not limited to gun violence. Just this year, Philadelphia police have been involved in a number of controversies involving police brutality. From the teen who underwent surgery after an aggressive stop-and-frisk in January to a possible death-by-choke-hold in June. 

Last year, the ACLU of Pennsylvania estimated that nearly half of all police stops in the state were carried out without reasonable suspicion, and 85 percent of all frisks involved Latinos or African Americans. That same year, 300 civil rights lawsuits were filed again Philadelphia police. The city paid nearly $14 million to 128 individuals who were found to have suffered civil rights violations at the hands of Philadelphia police.