Colorado’s Safest Cities of 2026

See crime rates for the safest cities.

Results from our latest State of Safety survey suggest Colorado is experiencing a sharp decline in property crime, but official statewide crime rates show a more modest decrease. More Coloradans feel safe in their state and believe crime is decreasing compared to the previous year's survey, but they still worry about overall crime more than the average American (48% CO, 46% US). 

Compared to statewide and national averages, Colorado's top 10 safest cities have incredibly low crime rates. This year, Lamar leads the way.

The violent crime rate in Colorado is 5.78 incidents per 1,000 people, which is higher than the national average of 4.43 and the eighth highest rate in the country. We weren't able to report a statewide violent crime rate last year due to insufficient data, but in our 2024 report, Colorado reported about the same violent crime rate — 5.8.

Property crime in The Centennial State has also held steady in recent years. It was 32.7 incidents per 1,000 people in 2024, and this year's property crime rate is 32.68. That's higher than the national property crime rate of 22.89 and the fourth-highest rate in the nation. 

Despite higher than average crime rates, the percentage of Coloradans who feel safe in the state increased from 46% to 50% year over year. However, Coloradans still feel a little less safe than the average American (US 52%). 

According to our survey, property crime and package theft have seen impressive declines across The Centennial State.

• 19% of Coloradans said they experienced property crime in the 12 months prior to our survey, which is a significant decline from 37% the year before (21% US).
• Concern about property crime also plummeted from 65% to 47% year over year (46% US).
• 36% personally experienced a package theft in the 12 months prior to our survey, down from 47%. Although this is a promising decrease, it's still the seventh highest in incident rate in the nation (31% US).
• The percentage of Coloradans worried about package theft fell from 62% to 49% year over year (44% US).
• 32% of Coloradans told us they increased security measures in the 12 months prior to the survey.
• Of the Coloradans who use some form of property protection, 47% use security cameras, 40% use guard dogs, and 29% use security systems.

For the second year in a row, we asked our State of Safety survey respondents about cyber security.

• Coloradans reported more cyber crime experiences than the average American (CO 33%, US 29%).
• Coloradans report the fifth-highest cyber crime incident rate in the nation. 
• 65% of Coloradans worry about cyber crimes, which is down from 69% the previous year. 
• 18% of Coloradans say they use an identity theft protection service, up from 15% the year before.
• 42% use a credit monitoring service (32% US).
• Coloradans are less likely to use anti-virus and anti-malware compared to the average American.

The percentage of Coloradans who experienced a violent crime in the 12 months prior to the survey stayed the same year over year, but concern about violent crime has dropped significantly.

• 50% of Coloradans worry about violent crime on a daily basis, down from 65% the previous year (US 55%).
• 13% of Coloradans say they experienced a violent crime first-hand, which is the same percentage as last year (12% US). 
• 17% of Coloradans surveyed say crime is decreasing in their state (US 16%).
• 34% of Coloradans use some form of personal protection.
• Coloradans prefer to protect themselves with pocket knives (56%), pepper spray (47%), and firearms (35%).

• 53% of Coloradans are worried about gun violence, which represents a slight decrease from 55% the year before (55% US).
• 10% of Coloradans told us they had an experience with gun violence in the 12 months prior to the survey (9% US)—a 1 point increase year over year.
• 4 mass shooting events occurred in Colorado in 2025; 2 fewer than in 2024. 
• Firearms are the third most used form of personal protection in Colorado, used by 35% of those who use any kind of personal protection (US 45%).

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.

• 67 cities in Colorado met the criteria for ranking.
• The top three safest cities in Colorado each reported zero violent crimes: Lamar, Milliken, and Fruita.
• Every city in the top 10 reported no more than 1 violent crime per 1,000 people.
• Castle Rock is the most populous city on this year's list with more than 84,000 residents.
• 3 cities in the top 10 held on to their rankings from last year: Milliken (#2), Erie (#7), and Castle Rock (#8). 
• 3 cities saw declines in both property and violent crime:  Fruita, Eagle, and Erie.
• Fruita's property and violent crime rates have decreased two years in a row. 
• Eagle decreased its violent crime rate by 50% and its property crime rate by about 36% year over year.
• Timnath's property crime rate dropped by about 41% year over year.
• 6 of the top 10 safest cities are located in suburbs around major cities like Fort Collins and Boulder. The other 4 cities are small towns located toward the state's eastern and western borders. Some, like Gypsum and Eagle, neighbor each other. 

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