Alaska’s Safest Cities of 2026

See crime rates for the safest cities.

After dropping into second place last year, Sitka has once again claimed the title of Alaska’s safest city. Throughout the rest of the state, Alaskans report complicated experiences with crime. Violent crime rates are officially down, but our State of Safety survey respondents experienced more violent crimes year over year. Property crime is also on the rise, but Alaskans aren't too worried about it.

The violent crime rate in Alaska is 4.98 incidents per 1,000 people, which is higher 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, Alaska reported a higher violent crime rate of 5.5. 

Although violent crime has decreased in The Last Frontier, property crime has jumped from 11.5 incidents per 1,000 people in 2023 to 20.03 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 Alaskans who feel safe in the state increased year over year from 38% to 47%. This is a promising improvement but still falls below the national average of 52%. About 59% of our Alaska survey respondents say they believe crime is increasing, up from 56% last year.

Results from our State of Safety survey reflect an increase in property crime concerns despite a decrease in actual property crime experiences. 

• Alaskans reported the highest level of personal property crime experiences nationwide. 
• 30% of Alaskan respondents said they had experienced a property crime in the 12 months prior to the survey, down from 36% the previous year. The US average is 21%.
• 31% of Alaska residents reported experiencing package theft in our latest survey, which matches the national average and represents a year-over-year decrease of 7 percentage points.
• 43% of Alaskans increased their security measures in the 12 months prior to the survey, which is the second highest rate in the nation.
• The most popular forms of property protection among Alaskans are firearms (45%), security cameras (43%), and security systems (34%).

For the second year in a row, we asked our State of Safety survey respondents about their cyber security concerns and experiences. Here's what Alaskans shared:

• Concern about cyber crime is down year-over-year in Alaska, dropping from 64% to 61%.
• 36% of Alaskans reported experiencing a cyber crime,  down from 40% the previous year.
• Alaskans reported the third-highest rate of cyber crime experiences nationwide.

Alaskans worry less than the average American about violent crime (42% AK, 55% US), but their personal experiences with violent crime have increased year-over-year. 

• 18% of Alaskans told us they had a personal experience with violent crime in the 12 months before the survey, up from 13% the previous year.
• Alaskans report the fifth highest level of violent crime experiences in the U.S. 
• 56% of Alaskans carry personal protection.
• 45% of Alaskans use a pocket knife for personal protection. Firearms and pepper spray tie for the second most popular option at 43%.

• In our latest State of Safety survey, 32% of Alaskans told us that they worried about gun violence, down slightly from 33% the year prior.  
• 8% of Alaskans experienced a gun violence incident in the 12 months prior to the survey, down from 12% the year before and lower than the national average of 9%.
• No mass shooting events occurred in Alaska in 2025.
• Firearms are the most common form of property protection (45%) and the second most popular form of personal protection (43%) in Alaska.
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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.

• 12 Alaskan cities met the criteria to be considered for ranking.
• Sitka is back in the #1 spot after dropping to #2 last year.
• Soldotna (#3) had the lowest violent crime rate of 0.9 incidents per 1,000 people. That's more than six times less than the violent crime rate in North Slope Borough (#7). 
• North Slope Borough had the lowest property crime rate of 5.2 incidents per 1,000 people, which is almost 5 times lower than the property crime rate in Wasilla (#10).
• Wasilla's property crime rate decreased by about 35% year over year, but it remains above the national average.
• Juneau (#9) has the largest population of any city in the top 10. 
• Most cities saw year-over-year decreases in both property crime and violent crime: Sitka, Palmer, Soldotna, Kenai, Kodiak, Juneau, and Wasilla.
• Palmer and Kenai reported decreases in violent and property crime two years in a row.
• North Slope Borough and Juneau have violent crime rates higher than the national average. 

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