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Personal Finance Reports

What are the Safest Cities in Each State?

Updated Apr 06, 2023   |   6-min read

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A number of important factors play a role in deciding which neighborhood is the best to settle down in.

Does this town have a good education system? Is the overall cost of living within my means? Am I going to enjoy the weather here? Are there enough things to do and places to eat to keep me entertained? Is this a place where I could see myself living?

All things considered, perhaps the most important parameter when deciding where you want to live is whether or not that place is one of the safest cities in america.

Everyone wants to be able to say that they live in the safest town in america. Whether you are alone or not, you want to feel secure in the early mornings, late nights, and all the time in between. LendEDU is not endorsing this, but ideally you want to live in a neighborhood where you can leave your house without locking the door and know all your possessions will be there when you get back.

LendEDU’s newest report recognizes the safest towns and cities in america by each state. Using licensed data, we gathered the total crime risk score for every single town in the country. This score represents the combined risk of rape, murder, assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft compared to the national average of 100.

If a city posted a total crime risk score of 200 it meant that place had twice the risk of crime compared to the national average. Or, a city that recorded a score of 50 had half the risk of crime compared to the national average. A lower crime risk score meant a safer community.

The tables below have ranked the safest places in america by each state according to their difference from the national average crime risk score of 100. For example, if an incredibly safe community had a -98 difference from the national average, it meant that place had a crime risk score of two.

Cities that made the top of their state’s list had the highest negative difference from the national average; a higher negative difference meant a lower crime risk score, which meant a safer town.

Top 100 Safest Cities in Alabama

Top 32 Safest Cities in Alaska

Top 100 Safest Cities in Arizona

Top 100 Safest Cities in Arkansas

Top 100 Safest Cities in California

Top 100 Safest Cities in Colorado

Top 100 Safest Cities in Connecticut

Top 50 Safest Cities in Delaware

Top 100 Safest Cities in Florida

Top 100 Safest Cities in Georgia

Top 100 Safest Cities in Hawaii

Top 100 Safest Cities in Idaho

Top 100 Safest Cities in Illinois

Top 100 Safest Cities in Indiana

Top 100 Safest Cities in Iowa

Top 100 Safest Cities in Kansas

Top 100 Safest Cities in Kentucky

Top 100 Safest Cities in Louisiana

Top 100 Safest Cities in Maine

Top 100 Safest Cities in Maryland

Top 100 Safest Cities in Massachusetts

Top 100 Safest Cities in Michigan

Top 100 Safest Cities in Minnesota

Top 100 Safest Cities in Mississippi

Top 100 Safest Cities in Missouri

Top 100 Safest Cities in Montana

Top 100 Safest Cities in Nebraska

Top 100 Safest Cities in Nevada

Top 100 Safest Cities in New Hampshire

Top 100 Safest Cities in New Jersey

Top 100 Safest Cities in New Mexico

Top 100 Safest Cities in New York

Top 100 Safest Cities in North Carolina

Top 100 Safest Cities in North Dakota

Top 100 Safest Cities in Ohio

Top 100 Safest Cities in Oklahoma

Top 100 Safest Cities in Oregon

Top 100 Safest Cities in Pennsylvania

Top 100 Safest Cities in Rhode Island

Top 100 Safest Cities in South Carolina

Top 100 Safest Cities in South Dakota

Top 100 Safest Cities in Tennessee

Top 100 Safest Cities in Texas

Top 100 Safest Cities in Utah

Top 100 Safest Cities in Vermont

Top 100 Safest Cities in Virginia

Top 100 Safest Cities in Washington

Top 100 Safest Cities in West Virginia

Top 100 Safest Cities in Wisconsin

Top 75 Safest Cities in Wyoming

Methodology

All data used in this study was under license from Onboard Informatics. Onboard Informatics dataset was used for the most recent population figures, location purposes, and for the total crime risk score. To begin this study, we found the total crime risk score of every town in every state.

Once this was done, we were able to separate the master sheet into 50 individual sheets broken down by state. For most states, a population cutoff was set at 5,000, meaning towns in that state with a population below 5,000 were not analyzed further. For some of the less populous states like Montana, Wyoming, or Alaska, a population cutoff was not established because these states did not have enough towns to warrant a population cutoff. Alaska and Delaware did not have a list featuring 100 towns because these states do not have 100 towns. 

Each state and the corresponding cities were ranked based on their total crime risk score and, more specifically, the difference between their score and the national average total crime risk score of 100. We ranked the cities in each state based on the difference of their total crime risk score and the national average of 100. These scores determined our list of the safest cities in america.

For example, a city that had a total crime risk score of two was listed in the table as a -98 difference from the national average of 100 and was ranked highly on the list. A higher negative difference indicated a safer town and the town was ranked accordingly. Contrarily, a city that was listed with a difference of 75 indicated that their crime score was 175 and they were ranked lower on the list. If a city had crime score of 200 it meant they had twice the risk of crime compared to the national average and their difference listed was 100.

The total crime risk score is a stand alone statistic provided by Onboard Informatics and indicates the combined risk of rape, murder, burglary, assault, robbery, larceny, and vehicle theft compared to the national average of 100.

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