Arizona’s Safest Cities of 2026

See crime rates for the safest cities.

In this year's State of Safety survey, Arizonans saw a slight decrease in property crime experiences and a large dip in violent crime experiences. Arizona residents' property and violent crime experiences both fall below national averages. The number of Arizonans who feel safe in the state grew year over year, and fewer Arizonans believe crime is increasing compared to last year.

The violent crime rate in Arizona is  3.28 incidents per 1,000 people, which is lower than the national average of 4.43. We weren't able to report a statewide violent crime rate over the last two years due to insufficient data, but in our 2023 report, Arizona reported a lower violent crime rate of 2.6.

Property crime in The Grand Canyon State has also increased in recent years, jumping from 14.4 incidents per 1,000 people in 2023 to 18.26 incidents in this year's report. On the plus side, that's lower than the national property crime rate of 22.89. 

The number of Arizonans who feel safe in the state dropped year over year from 41% to 38%. About 56% of our Arizona survey respondents say they believe crime is increasing. 

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After experiencing a spike in property crime concerns last year, Arizonans' worries have returned to their previous level. About 56% of our Arizona respondents say they're concerned about property crime on a daily basis. 

Package theft is even less concerning, worrying 53% of the population. That makes it the least worrisome crime for Arizonans. 

Meanwhile, actual experiences with property crime continue to drop year over year. 

• The Grand Canyon State is the sixth-most concerned state when it comes to property crime.
• 21% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with property crime in the 12 months prior to the survey. That matches the national average and is down from 26% the previous reporting year.
• 36% of Arizonans fell prey to package theft in our latest survey—down from 38% last year and 5 percentage points higher than the national average.
• Arizonans reported the seventh-highest rate of package theft experiences nationwide.
• 31% of respondents said they added security or safety measures in the 12 months prior to the survey.
• Of the Arizonans who use some form of property protection, most prefer security cameras (52%), security systems (35%), or guard dogs (31%).

Concern about violent crime remained at the same level as the previous year. In our 2025 report, Arizona was the ninth most-worried state when it came to violent crime. In this year's report, the state now ties for fourth place with five other states.

Despite those high levels of concern, Arizonans reported a dramatic decrease in their personal experience with violent crime, falling from 11% to 5% year over year. That's the second-lowest percentage in the nation behind Kansas (4%). 

• Every day, 67% of Arizonans worry about a violent crime happening to them—that’s 12 percentage points higher than the national average.
• 24% of Arizona survey respondents use some form of personal protection—a stark decrease from 49% two years ago.
• Of those Arizona residents who use personal protection, most prefer pocket knives (50%), firearms (46%), and pepper spray (42%).

• Gun violence concern in Arizona dropped from 67% to 57% year over year, which is slightly higher than the national average of 55%.
• 3% reported having a personal experience with gun violence in the 12 months prior to the survey, down from 11% the previous year.  Arizona ties with New Hampshire and South Dakota for the lowest reported level of gun violence experiences. 
• Arizona saw 3 mass shootings in 2025—the same as the previous year.
• Arizonans are more likely to use firearms for personal protection than for property protection. 

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• 27 Arizona cities qualified for ranking this year.
• Buckeye and Prescott Valley saw year-over-year decreases in both property crime and violent crime.
• Surprise, Queen Creek, Gilbert, and Marana saw year-over-year decreases in property crime.
• Violent crime dropped in Oro Valley, Sahuarita, and Maricopa.
• Gilbert is one of the most populous cities to repeatedly land on our safest cities lists. With over 277,000 people, its low per-capita crime rates are even more impressive.
• Half of Arizona's 10 safest cities are suburbs of Phoenix. San Luis stands out as the only border town in the top 10. 
• San Luis, Oro Valley, and Queen Creek reported zero murders.

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