Oklahoma’s 20 Safest Cities of 2023

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

See if your city made the full list.

In our 2023 State of Safety report, 44% of Oklahomans expressed a high level of concern for their personal safety—lower than the national average of 50%. Across the board, survey respondents reported more personal experiences with crime and violence than in the previous survey year.

As with previous survey year, there's a disconnect between the self-reported crime experiences and Oklahoma's crime rates (sourced from FBI), which are higher than the national average. Oklahoma's crime rates in the last year reflect recent national decreases in violent and property crime. Still, crime rates in all 20 of Oklahoma's safest cities came in below state and national averages.

Oklahoma's violent crime rate dropped this year, decreasing from 4.6 incidents per 1,000 people to 4.4. Similarly, the property crime rate continued to drop this year from 27.1 per 1,000 to 26.

Within the West South Central region, Oklahoma has the lowest violent crime rate—overtaking Texas this year. Oklahoma had the second-lowest property crime rate, just behind Texas.

Oklahoma's crime rates remain above the national average this year. Among the 41 states that met reporting requirements this year, Oklahoma has the twelfth-highest violent crime rate and the sixth-highest property crime rate.

Just over half of Oklahoma residents feel safe in their home state—similar to the average American. While the Sooner State had fewer violent crimes compared to last year, respondents reported more experiences with violent crime and gun violence.

• 51% of people in Oklahoma reported feeling safe in their state compared to 50% of Americans.
• 72% of survey respondents in Oklahoma say crime is increasing (US 71%) while 9% say it's decreasing (US 8%).
• 24% of Oklahoma residents reported having a personal experience with violent crime in the 12 months prior to the survey—4.8 times more than the previous survey year(5%).
• Violent crime rates dropped 4.1% since last year, which is well below the 0.7% national decrease.
• Murder is less common in Oklahoma than any other violent crime, making up about 2% of all violent crime (US 2%) though the state's 20 safest cities averaged less than 1% with a single murder last year.
• Rape accounts for 14% of violent crimes in Oklahoma (US 11%). The 20 safest cities have a higher number of instances at 24%.

• 53% of survey participants use some kind of personal protection like a stun gun or pepper spray, compared to 39% nationally.
• The top forms of personal protection in Oklahoma this survey year were concealed firearms (47%), pocket knives (43%), and pepper spray (43%).
  • This is higher than the respective national averages for concealed firearms (US 41%) and pepper spray (US 42%), but matches the US average for pocket knives.
• 43% of respondents said they added or increase security measures in the 12 months prior to the survey compared to the US average of 35%.
• 39% of Oklahomans say their personal safety has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 44% of Americans.

• 47% of Oklahoma residents worry about gun violence daily—matching the US average.
• 16% of survey participants in Oklahoma reported personal experiences with gun violence. This is 1.3 times higher than the US average of 12%.
• There were 8 mass shootings in Oklahoma in 2022—4 times the number in 2021.
• For every police officer killed or injured by a gun in Oklahoma in 2022, 6.6 suspects experienced the same.
• There were 33 self-defense shooting incidents in Oklahoma in 2022—down 3 from the year before.

Despite a lower property crime rate, people in Oklahoma reported increasing concerns and experience with property crime this survey year. Burglaries continue to be more prevalent in Oklahoma than in most other states, and residents rely more on dogs, security cameras and firearms than the average American.

• The property crime rate in Oklahoma went down for the third consecutive year and the total number of property crime incidents reported in the safest cities dropped by 513 incidents.
• 36% of Oklahomans reported personal experiences with property crime this year. This is over 2.5 times that of the previous survey year (14%).
• Burglary accounts for 20% of all property crimes in The Sooner State and the 20 safest cities, which is 1.4 times higher than the national prevalence of 14%.

• 81% of Oklahoma residents use some form of property protection, just above the 76% national average.
• The top forms of property protection in Oklahoma this survey year were dogs (46%), security cameras (41%), and firearms (40%).
  • This is higher than the respective national averages for dogs (US 34%), security cameras (US 38%), and firearms (US 30%).
• 34% of respondents say the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the security of their property—this is higher than the US average of 28%.

• 44% of Oklahoma respondents reported experiencing package theft in the 12 months prior to the survey, which ties it for second place with New York but behind Louisiana (51%). By comparison, the US average comes in at just 34%.
• 67% of participants expressed a high level of concern about package theft, which is second only to Washington (70%), and 1.2 times the US average of 53%.
• Oklahomans' top methods of package protection include leaving it in a safe spot (32%), verified delivery (29%), and video doorbells (28%).
  • This is higher than the respective national averages for safe spots (US 25%) and verified delivery (US 27%), but matches the US average for video doorbells.

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.

• 148 cities met criteria to be considered for ranking.
• Elgin is Oklahoma's safest city for the fifth year in a row, it's the only city in the top 20 still holding its rank from last year.
• 35% of the safest cities increased in rank since last year.
• Stigler made the biggest ranking jump this year (up 63 spots)—it landed at 13. The next largest jumps come from Mannford and Hominy, which both moved up 14 spots to land at 11 and 12 respectively.
• 95% of the safest cities have populations under 10,000—only Mustang (population 24,822) is larger.
• 8 cities joined our top 20 this year—Langston, Coalgate, Luther, Mannford, Hominy, Stigler, Hooker, and Mustang.

• The violent crime rate in the safest cities is 1 incident per 1,000 people—76% lower than the state rate (4.4).
• Elgin reported 0 violent crimes in the last year, a repeat from last year. There were also 3 cities just outside our top 20 that reported 0 violent crimes: Fairview (rank 23), Kiefer (rank 24), and Nichols Hills (rank 25).
• 8 cities reported fewer than 1 violent crime per 1,000 residents.

• The property crime rate in the safest cities is 7.3 incidents per 1,000 people—72% lower than the state rate (26.0).
• 4 cities (20%) reported property crime incidents in single digits last year: Elgin, Langston, Coalgate, and Burns Flat.
• 16 of the safest cities reported fewer than 9 property crimes per 1,000 residents last year.
• Elgin claims the lowest property crime rate overall (0.3) with 1 reported property crime.

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
• The Most Burglarized City in Every State
• The Best Personal Safety Devices for Every Situation
• The State of Safety in America in 2022

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.