Tennessee’s 20 Safest Cities of 2019

SafeWise is happy to release our 5th annual Safest Cities report. Here are the 20 Safest Cities in Tennessee for 2019. See if your city made the list.

The Volunteer State’s safest cities seem to be full of citizens stepping up to keep their communities safe. Each of Tennessee’s safest cities had fewer than two incidents of violent crime per 1,000 people, but the state doesn’t do as well overall. Tennessee’s statewide violent crime rate of 9.07 is double the national rate of 4.49 crimes per 1,000.

It doesn’t get much better when you add property crime to the mix. The state’s rate of 39.88 incidents per 1,000 isn’t double the national rate of 27.11, but it’s still remarkably high. Our safest cities deliver some good news, though. Among all 20, just one city had a property crime rate above the national average—Sparta, with 60 property crimes per 1,000. Every other city on the list had 22 or fewer incidents.

Look for your favorite Tennessee town on the list, and see how it compares to the rest when it comes to keeping crime low.

Interesting Findings

• 70% of this year’s safest cities made the list for the second time, and the top two (Belle Meade and Pleasant View) held their rankings year over year.
• 80% of the cities had no occurrence of murder, 45% had no robberies, and 60% had no counts of arson.
• Tennessee’s biggest concern is property crime, with 72% of State of Safety participants citing it as a top worry, versus 59% nationwide. Violent crime comes in second, with 65% naming it a primary concern.
• 16% reported experiencing a property crime in the past year, matching the national average.
• Having someone break into their home is the highest concern among property crime offenses (73% vs. 63% nationally), but it was relatively rare when you look at actual reported crimes in the safest cities—just three cities reported more than 60 burglaries. And burglary made up just 11% of the total property crimes reported among the safest cities.

The 20 Safest Cities in Tenessee

How We Determined the Safest Cities

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

Beyond Safest Cities: What Are the Biggest Safety Concerns in Your State?

Crime statistics are one thing, but do they line up with what people are really worried about when it comes to safety? To find out, SafeWise conducted a nationwide survey. See what the biggest safety concern is in your state—and learn more about what your neighbors are nervous about—in our State of Safety report.

If you would like to contact a SafeWise Safest Cities Analyst, please email info@safewise.com.

Sources:

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, “2017 Crime in the United States”
SafeWise’s, “2019 State of Safety“