Nevada’s 5 Safest Cities of 2023

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

Here are the 5 safest cities in Nevada for 2023

See if your city made the full list.

In our latest State of Safety survey, 48% of respondents in Nevada reported concern for their safety. This is about the same as the national average of 50%. This may be due to crime rates in the state that are above the national average. Even so, violent crime has dropped year over year and the safest cities saw only a fraction of the state rates for both crime categories.

In this report

2023 Nevada crime rates

Although Nevada’s crime rates have historically been higher than national averages, violent crime has been declining. In fact, violent crime in Nevada has been dropping for the past four years, and this year went from 4.6 incidents per 1,000 residents to 4.3. Unfortunately, that's still higher than the national average of 4.0.

When it comes to property crime, the state isn't doing so well. While it dropped below the national average the year before, this year, it's back above it. It went from 19.3 incidents per 1,000 people to 23.0. The national average this year is 19.3.

Nevada's property crime rate is above the national average.

Image: SafeWise

Violent crime in Nevada: Fear vs. reality

Though violent crime dropped year over year, Nevadans are still very concerned about it. In fact, concern rose 8% from the year before and is 17% higher than the national average.

  • 57% of Nevadans said they were concerned about violent crime (US 49%).
  • 9% said they had experience with violent crime, which is the same as the year before.
  • Nevada ranks thirteenth in states with the highest violent crime rate.
  • Aggravated assault is the most prevalent violent crime in Nevada, making up 64% of all reported incidents, compared to 72% nationally.
  • Like most states, murder is the least common violent crime in Nevada, tied with the national average of 2%.
  • 47% say they use some kind of personal safety protection like pepper spray—higher than the national average of 39%. 
  • Pocket knives are the most popular form of personal protection in the state, with almost half of the respondents saying they use one (40%).
  • 44% say their personal safety has been affected by the pandemic, the same as the national average.

Attitudes about gun violence in Nevada

  • 42% of Nevada residents named gun violence as a safety concern—well above the US average of 47%.
  • 11% of survey respondents reported experiencing gun violence in the 12 months prior to the survey—higher than the national average of 12%.
  • There were 5 mass shootings in Nevada during the 2023 reporting year. The state had just as many mass shootings as the year before.
  • 34% of Nevadans said they use a concealed firearm for protection (US 41%).
59% worry about package theft.

Image: SafeWise

Property crime in Nevada: Fear vs. reality

Property crime decreased each of the past three years before this one. That may be why the concern for property crimes dropped by 4%. Even so, experience with it has risen with the increase of property crime in the state.

  • 49% say they worry about becoming a victim of property crime, compared to 50% across the US. That's down from 51% the year before.
  • Property crime experiences rose from 16% in our last reporting year to 18%.
  • Larceny-theft makes up 63% of all property crime in Nevada, compared to 72% nationwide. 
  • Burglaries account for 17% of all property crimes—3 percentage points higher than the national proportion of 14%.
  • 17% of survey respondents use no kind of security measure to protect their Nevada property (US 24%).
  • The most popular form of property protection (42%) is a security system.
  • 32% think the security of their property has been impacted by the pandemic (US 28%).

A closer look at the safest cities in Nevada

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.

  • We couldn’t rank the safest cities in Nevada in the previous years due to limited information reported to the FBI. This is the first year we have enough information to rank the safest cities.
  • 2 of the safest cities, Boulder City and Mesquite, reported zero murders.
  • All of the top 5 safest cities reported fewer than 5 violent crimes in the year.
  • The safest cities had 28% less violent crimes and 24% less property crimes than the rest of the state.

The 5 safest cities in Nevada

The safest city in Nevada is Boulder City.

Image: SafeWise

Boulder City, Nevada
#1
Boulder City
(
New
)
  • Circle Population
    Population
    16,556
  • Circle Dollar
    Median Income
    $69,746
  • Circle Gun
    VC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    1.6, 1.4, 1.2
  • Circle Property
    PC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    9.2, 8.5, 7.1
  • Info
    VC=Violent crime, PC=Property crime
Mesquite, Nevada
#2
Mesquite
(
-1
Down
)
  • Circle Population
    Population
    21,038
  • Circle Dollar
    Median Income
    $63,757
  • Circle Gun
    VC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    1.5, 1.0, 1.3
  • Circle Property
    PC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    19.1, 11.1, 11.4
  • Info
    VC=Violent crime, PC=Property crime
Henderson, Nevada
#3
Henderson
(
-1
Down
)
  • Circle Population
    Population
    337,375
  • Circle Dollar
    Median Income
    $79,611
  • Circle Gun
    VC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    2.3, 2.1, 1.7
  • Circle Property
    PC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    16.5, 14.3, 17.5
  • Info
    VC=Violent crime, PC=Property crime
North Las Vegas, Nevada
#4
North Las Vegas
(
-0-
Icon Blank
)
  • Circle Population
    Population
    264,877
  • Circle Dollar
    Median Income
    $64,738
  • Circle Gun
    VC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    3.8, 5.2, 8.6
  • Circle Property
    PC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    16.7, 16.2, 20.4
  • Info
    VC=Violent crime, PC=Property crime
Sparks, Nevada
#5
Sparks
(
-2
Down
)
  • Circle Population
    Population
    108,612
  • Circle Dollar
    Median Income
    $73,678
  • Circle Gun
    VC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    4.4, 4.2, 4.2
  • Circle Property
    PC Rate 2023, 2022, 2021
    23.7, 19.6, 22.9
  • Info
    VC=Violent crime, PC=Property crime

How we determined the safest cities

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

How to make a safe home anywhere

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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Get a home security system

Find out which companies we recommend for every budget and lifestyle in our roundup of the Best Home Security Systems—and learn the basics with our guide on Everything You Need to Know About Home Security

Compare the best home security systems

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Contract required
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Read review
Best overall$599.00
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Amazon,
Google,
Z-Wave
Budget pick$245.00
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Most experienced$0.00
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Best optional monitoring$199.15
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*Amazon.com price as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read full disclaimer.

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Didn't find your city?

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 email info@safewise.com with the subject line: Safest Cities Full Report.

NOTE: If your city is missing from our full report, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2021.

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Find the safest cities in each state

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


Related articles on SafeWise


Endnotes and sources

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed February 6, 2023.

  • 2021 and 2020 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
    • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
  • 2021 NIBRS Estimation Tables

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, "Offenses Known to Law Enforcement [2019]." Accessed February 6, 2023.

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed February 6, 2023.

US Census Bureau, "2021: ACS 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables." Accessed February 6, 2023.

US Census Bureau, "2021: ACS 5-Year Estimates Detailed Tables." Accessed February 6, 2023.

SafeWise, "2022 State of Safety survey." Accessed February 6, 2023.

Gun Violence Archive, "General Methodology." Accessed February 6, 2023.

Gun Violence Archive, "Past Summary Ledgers." Accessed January 3, 2023.

Gun Violence Archive, "Congress."

  • 2022 totals: Accessed January 3, 2023.
  • 2021 and 2020 totals: Accessed December 19, 2022.
Rebecca Edwards
Written by
Rebecca Edwards
Rebecca is the lead safety reporter and in-house expert for SafeWise.com. She has been a journalist and blogger for over 25 years, with a focus on home and community safety for the past eight. Rebecca spends dozens of hours every month poring over crime reports and spotting trends. Her safety expertise is sought after by publications, broadcast journalists, non-profit organizations, podcasts, and more. You can find her expert advice and analysis in places like TechCrunch, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, NPR, HGTV, MSN, Reader's Digest, Real Simple, and an ever-growing library of radio and TV clips.

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