West Virginia’s 20 Safest Cities of 2019

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

Crime rates in West Virginia are higher than national averages, but the state’s safest cities performed remarkably well in 2017. Despite a statewide violent crime rate of 5.78 incidents per 1,000, every city on our list reported fewer than two incidents per 1,000. Comparatively, the national violent crime rate is 4.49.

Property crime across West Virginia occurred at a rate of 32.11 incidents per 1,000 people—exceeding the national average of 27.11. But the safest cities did much better, with 80% keeping property crime under the national rate.

Learn more about the safest cities in West Virginia, and see if your city made the list.

Interesting Findings

• 50% of this year’s cities were also named the safest in the state last year.
• Number one Ceredo debuts on the list this year with zero violent crimes.
• 85% reported five or fewer total violent crimes, and there were zero murders among the safest cities.
• Property crime is rated as the top safety concern in the state, according to our State of Safety report.
• 15% of State of Safety respondents said they had a personal experience with property crime in the past year, but only 2% reported experiencing a violent crime.

The 20 Safest Cities in West Virginia

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“