Hide your kids and hide your wife, locals. The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown has been named one of the least safe metropolitan statistical areas in the United States.

That designation comes from the citizens themselves, who were polled by Gallup throughout 2012 about whether they felt "safe walking alone at night in the city or area where [they] live."

Data from the recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index indicates that only 63 percent of Houstonians feel safe in that situation, compared with a national average 72 percent. Only residents of Memphis (55 percent), New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner (59 percent) and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (61 percent) feel more unsafe walking alone at night.

Meanwhile, Austin-Round Rock ranked among the safest metro areas, with 77 percent of respondents indicating personal security. The Texas capital tied with Salt Lake City and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy in confidence, while 78 percent of Raleigh-Cary and Denver-Aurora residents responded in the affirmative and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington tallied an 80 percent safety rating.

Gallup notes that there is a correlation between FBI violent crime rates and citizens' perceived safety. Recently, two Houston neighborhoods were listed among the Top 25 Most Dangerous in America.