Mississippi’s 10 Safest Cities of 2022

The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the eighth annual Safest Cities report.

See if your city made the full list.

In our 2022 State of Safety survey, 45% of Mississippians expressed that they had high levels of concern daily, despite an 11% decrease in property crimes year over year.

Mississippi's violent crime rate increased year over year from 2.6 reported per 1,000 residents to 2.9. Still, the state's safest cities generally have lower crime rates than the rest of The Magnolia State.

• Violent crime rates
• Property crime rates
• Interesting findings
• The Safest Cities
• Methodology
• How to make a safe home anywhere
• How other cities compare
• How other states compare

Despite an 11% decrease in property crimes year over year, Mississippi stayed above the national average (MS 21.0 vs US 19.6). 

Mississippi's violent crime rate increased year over year from 2.6 reported per 1,000 residents to 2.9. This is well under the national average of 4.0.

Compared to last year, Mississippian survey respondents to our State of Safety survey worried less frequently about their safety. This correlates with a reported decrease in personal experiences with violent crime and property crime in the 12 months prior to our survey.

Out of those surveyed, 75% of respondents said they think crime is increasing in the state versus 12% who don't, with both results coming in above the respective averages of 66% and 8% for the entire country.

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

View the complete 2022 State of Safety report.

Even though the violent crime rate rose by 11%, it’s still well below both regional and US rates. Mississippi's rise in violent crimes over the last year tracks with increased reports of gun violence from our survey respondents. About half of respondents say they feel safe in their home state.

• 51% of Mississippi residents reported feeling safe in their state compared to 55% of Americans.
• 16% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with violent crime 12 months prior to the survey—down two percentage points from last year.
• Like most states, murder is the least common violent crime in The Magnolia State.
• 49% of survey participants report using some form of personal protection like stun guns or pepper spray. This is more than most Americans—the national average lands at 34%.
• 49% of Mississippians say their personal safety has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (compared to 44% of Americans).

• 14% of residents surveyed reported an experience with gun violence in the 12 months prior to the survey. This is nearly double the amount from the previous year.
• There were 13 mass shootings in Mississippi, which is a 24% decrease from the year before.
• 38% of those surveyed are most worried about a gun violence incident happening to them, matching the national average.

Mississippi is in the top half of US states that exceed the national average for property crime, and its rate has risen over the last three years. This matches our observations from the State of Safety survey: respondents cited fewer personal experiences with property crime than last year.

• Despite having a higher property crime rate than the US, Mississippi saw a 11% decrease year over year and experienced less property crime than the East South Central regional rate.
• Mississippians reported one-quarter fewer personal experiences with property crime this year (24%) compared to last year (32%).
• 18% of participants reported experiencing package theft 12 months prior to the survey, putting Mississippi below the US average of 20%.
• 74% of Mississippians surveyed use some form of property protection. This is well above the 60% average for the US.
• The top forms of property protection in Mississippi were firearms and guard dogs. Both options are tied with 36% using them compared to 26% of Americans (also tied).
• 29% of Mississippi residents say the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the security of their property—this matches the US 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.

• 50% of the safest cities reported 1 or fewer violent crimes per 1,000 residents.
• The safest cities collectively reported more than 5,000 fewer property crime incidents this year.
• Only 60% of the safest cities reported a property crime rate lower than both the state and US rates.
• Only one city, Petal, reported fewer than 100 total property crimes.

VC=Violent crime
PC=Property crime

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. One of the best ways to stop a burglary before it happens is to add a home security system.

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We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population as calculated using FBI data. To request a report of the remaining cities in your state, sign up for our email newsletter (we make it easy in a quick form below!) or email info@safewise.com with the subject line: Safest Cities Full Report.

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 2020.

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

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FBI: Crime Data Explorer, Accessed March 8, 2022.

US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed January 24, 2022.

Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 24, 2022.

SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 8, 2022.

Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 24, 2022.

Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 8, 2022.

Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 8, 2022.

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