Arkansas’s 20 Safest Cities of 2021

1. Cave Springs
2. Greenbrier
3. Austin
4. Greenwood
5. Bella Vista
6. Vilonia
7. Gentry
8. Pottsville
9. White Hall
10. Centerton

See if your city made the full list.

Arkansas residents fall in the middle of the country when it comes to concern levels. Of those we surveyed, 54% said they were concerned on a daily basis and 54% said they feel safe in The Natural State.

But Arkansans’ concern levels rose significantly when we asked about the COVID-19 pandemic. Of our respondents, 72% said they worry about the pandemic on a daily basis.

Arkansas experienced more violent crime and property crime than most of the region and nation. The state’s top concern this year was violent crime, with levels being 2.1 points higher than the national average.

Arkansas did see a lower frequency of package theft. Only 12% of our respondents claimed to experience it in the last year, compared to 20% of the US.

Violent crime is the biggest issue for Arkansans. And daily levels of concern have risen significantly since last year. That said, we saw a dramatic decrease in those who experienced violent crimes and property crimes since 2020.

We asked Arkansans which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Arkansas residents are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.

View the complete 2021 State of Safety report.

Violent crime was the biggest concern for Arkansas residents this year. And the rates justify these worries with violent crime rates significantly higher in Arkansas at 5.8 per 1,000 people. But to put those worries to rest, 40% of folks in The Natural State use personal protection (US 34%).

• Arkansas has the fourth-highest rate of violent crime in the nation behind Alaska, New Mexico, and Tennessee.
• For both Arkansas’ safest cities (26%) and statewide (13%), rape accounts for a higher percentage of violent crime than the nation’s average (8%). The same pattern applies to aggravated assault.
• At 5%, robbery accounts for a significantly lower violent crime rate in the safest cities and the state (9%) compared to the nation (22%).
• 46% named gun violence as their top safety concern.
• Violent crime in Arkansas has increased by 0.4 incidents per 1,000 since 2020.
• 43% of Arkansans worry about police violence, while 60% feel confidence in law enforcement.
• 40% of Arkansas residents use some form of personal protection like pepper spray or stun guns, 6% more than the rest of the country.
• 43% of Arkansans say their personal safety has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 15 of its safest cities have violent crime rates below the state, regional, and national averages.
• There were 13 mass shooting incidents in Arkansas in 2020, more than twice that of 2019.

Arkansas has seen a steady decrease in property crime year over year since 2019. But property crime rates in Arkansas are still far above the national and regional average. In Arkansas, 69% of residents use some type of property protection to keep their homes safe.

• Arkansas has the fifth-highest property crime rate in the nation.
• 70% of the safest cities reported fewer than 100 property crime incidents.
• Pottsville was the only safest city to have under 20 property crime incidents.
• Burglary is more common in Arkansas than the rest of the nation with over 18,000 incidents in the state.
• 69% of Arkansans use some form of property protection with guard dogs being the favored method, followed by firearms.
• 29% say the security of their property has been affected by the pandemic, matching the national average.

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.

• Cave Springs earns the number 1 spot for the second year in a row.
• Greenbrier is a newcomer to the list and made it to the second spot this year.
• Pea Ridge and Centerton tie for the most improved cities this year, both moving up 8 spots.
• Cabot dropped five ranking spots this year from 15 to 20. Its property crime rate dropped from 15.2 to 13.8 this year, but its violent crime more than doubled from 1.5 to 3.7.
• The largest city on our list this year was Bentonville, which jumped four spots to number 13 this year.
• Ten of the cities on our list saw improvements this year in their safest cities rankings.

Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.

Whether your city made our list or not, we encourage everyone to be proactive about home security. Learn more about your home security options—and find out which companies we recommend for every budget and lifestyle in our roundup of the Best Home Security Systems.

We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population. See how the remaining cities ranked in the list below.

NOTE: If you don’t see your city on the list, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2019.

Click on the state image or dropdown menu below to check out the safest cities for each state.

• Best Home Security Systems
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• Burglary Stats & Facts
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FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting Program, “2019 Crime in the United States,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed November 18, 2020.

Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 6, 2021.

SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 6, 2021.

Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 15, 2021.

For definitions and more on data sources, see our methodology page.