You have plenty to brag about if you’re lucky enough to call one of these Kentucky cities home. On average, the twenty safest cities in the state reported fewer than one violent crime per 1,000 people. That’s almost 90% less than the regional average, according to the most recent FBI crime report. The occurrence of property crime was also notably low, with just ten of these crimes reported per 1,000 residents.
Analyzing the FBI crime report further, we discovered these twenty safety-minded cities cited a total of just 358 burglaries—remarkably few considering they represent over 180,000 citizens. Equally impressive: there were zero reports of murder and only four arsons among the cities on our list.
We congratulate the citizens, leaders, and law enforcement officers of all twenty communities, some of which—like Independence—deserve special recognition. Not only is Independence the third-safest city in the state, but it is also the most populated one on our list, with over 26,000 residents. Additionally, we send kudos to top-ranked Flatwoods and eighth-ranked Villa Hills, as these cities cited no violent crimes whatsoever.
The fact that 90% of these cities are making their second consecutive appearance as Kentucky’s safest places to live indicates they don’t take safety for granted. Quite the opposite—we found several cities implementing new strategies for communicating with citizens and identifying burgeoning problems and concerns. Eleventh-ranked Edgewood is an ideal example, being the first city in the state to implement SeeClickFix, a web tool that allows residents to quickly and easily report non-emergency neighborhood issues.
What’s more, the safe city of Fort Thomas conducts a citizens police academy to help ensure continued partnership between law enforcement officers and residents. And fourteenth-ranked Mount Washington is one of several cities on our list leveraging social media as a key communication tool.
Review our list to learn if your city is one of the twenty safest in the Bluegrass State. Then refer to our Kentucky Safety Directory for safety resources, home security information, and a map of the state’s most and least burglarized counties.
How We Chose the Safest Cities in Kentucky
To identify the safest cities in Kentucky, we reviewed the most recent FBI Crime Report statistics from 2015, along with population data. We eliminated all cities with fewer than 4,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.
From there, we evaluated the remaining cities. We narrowed it down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To further level the playing field, we calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.
Learn more about how we rank our Safest Cities reports.
1. Flatwoods ↑
Previous Rank: 2
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 2.57
2. Greenville ↑
Previous Rank: 3
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.90
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.56
3. Independence ↑
Previous Rank: 6
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.41
Property Crimes per 1,000: 7.21
4. Fort Thomas ↔
Previous Rank: 4
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.18
Property Crimes per 1,000: 7.64
5. Prospect ↓
Previous Rank: 1
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.20
Property Crimes per 1,000: 7.76
6. Lawrenceburg ↑
Previous Rank: 7
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.27
Property Crimes per 1,000: 8.26
7. Taylor Mill ↑
Previous Rank: 9
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.74
Property Crimes per 1,000: 8.45
8. Villa Hills ↓
Previous Rank: 5
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 9.26
9. Columbia ↑
Previous Rank: 12
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.41
Property Crimes per 1,000: 8.93
10. Highland Heights ↔
Previous Rank: 10
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.28
Property Crimes per 1,000: 9.29
11. Edgewood ↑
Previous Rank: 18
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.34
Property Crimes per 1,000: 9.23
12. Wilmore ↓
Previous Rank: 11
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.32
Property Crimes per 1,000: 9.39
13. Fort Mitchell ↑
Previous Rank: 16
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.60
Property Crimes per 1,000: 10.01
14. Mount Washington ↓
Previous Rank: 8
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.65
Property Crimes per 1,000: 11.15
15. Vine Grove ↓
Previous Rank: 14
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.52
Property Crimes per 1,000: 12.97
16. Central City ↓
Previous Rank: 13
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.51
Property Crimes per 1,000: 14.12
17. Grayson ↑
Previous Rank: 29
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.49
Property Crimes per 1,000: 16.14
18. Williamsburg ↓
Previous Rank: 15
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.70
Property Crimes per 1,000: 14.96
19. Erlanger ↑
Previous Rank: 34
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.62
Property Crimes per 1,000: 16.07
20. Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills ↔
Previous Rank: 20
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.82
Property Crimes per 1,000: 17.00
How safe is your home?
Wherever you live, feeling safe in your home can bring greater peace of mind and happiness. Whether your city made our list or not, we recommend adding extra security to your home with monitored security services provided by the nation’s leading home security providers.
To learn more about the home security options available to you, check out SafeWise’s picks for Best Home Security Systems of 2018 or select the city nearest you in the drop down menu below.
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