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How Safe Are the Fastest-Growing U.S. Cities?

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By Cathy Habas

Mar 25, 2026

4 min read

Cathy has been a SafeWise contributor since 2021, helping turn crime data into clear, useful safety insights.

Certain areas of the U.S. are hotspots for movers. Eleven Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs alone attracted more than 125,000 new residents in just five years. But are folks flocking to safe areas? And are cities remaining safe despite a stream of new people?

To tackle these questions, we calculated population growth from 2020 to 2024 using U.S. Census Bureau data, then looked at FBI crime data from the same period for the 20 fastest-growing cities.

The relationship between booming population growth and crime isn't as strong as you might think. Here's what you should know about crime and safety in the fastest-growing U.S. cities.

See where your city landed on the full list.

In this report

Comparing average crime rates
Crime trends in fast-growing cities
Interesting findings
Safety profiles of the top 20 fastest growing cities
Find the Safest Cities in your state
Methodology

Is crime more common in fast-growing cities?

No. In fact, each of the fastest growing cities reported crime rates lower than national and state averages.

The average violent crime rate in the top 20 cities is 1.5 incidents per 1,000 people. That's well below the national average of 4.43.
The average property crime rate in the top 20 cities is 9.0 incidents per 1,000 people. That's less than half the national average of 22.89.

Some of the fastest growing cities appear on our Safest Cities lists:

Melissa, TX is the #4 safest city in Texas.
Fulshear, TX is the #8 safest city in Texas.
Tontitown, AR is the #8 safest city in Arkansas.
Timnath, CO is the #10 safest city in Colorado.

It's possible that lower crime rates help attract newcomers in the first place.

Does crime increase when population increases?

You might expect a surge in crime to follow a population boom. As more residents crowd into an area, there's more opportunity for crime and conflict. But the data show it's not so cut and dry.

We found no relationship between a city's population growth and its crime rates. There's no way to predict whether a city faces an increase in violent crime or property crime solely based on its population growth. As you'll see in the profiles below, cities with the fastest growth don't have the largest increases in crime or the highest crime rates.

On average, the 20 fastest growing cities saw a 35% increase in violent crime incidents from 2020 to 2024 (the same time period in which we evaluated population growth). Nine out of the 20 cities saw violent crime decrease.

Meanwhile, the average property crime rate decreased by about 5%. Fifteen out of the 20 cities saw property crime decrease.

A closer look at crime in the fastest growing cities

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.

75% of the 20 fastest growing cities are located in Texas, particularly around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
On average, the fastest growing cities saw a 98% increase in population from 2020 to 2024.
Over this same time period (unless otherwise indicated below), 7 cities saw decreases in both violent crime and property crime: Iowa Colony, TX; Royse City, TX; Melissa, TX; Hardeeville, SC; Venus, TX; Timnath, CO; and Pea Ridge, AR.
Melissa, TX has the lowest overall crime rates among the 20 fastest-growing cities.
Aubrey, TX has the highest overall crime rates among the 20 fastest-growing cities, but they fall below national and state averages.
Royse City, TX saw the greatest year-over-year improvements thanks to a 47% decrease in violent crime and a 32% decrease in property crime.
Aggravated assault: All 20 cities reported at least 1 aggravated assault in the most recent reporting year.
Murder: 75% of the cities reported zero murders.
Rape: 4 cities reported zero rapes: Fulshear, TX; Timnath, CO; Wendell, NC; and Hardeeville, SC. Rape is more common than robbery in 50% of the fastest growing cities.
Robbery: 7 cities reported zero robberies: Melissa, TX; Van Alstyne, TX; Venus, TX; Liberty Hill, TX; Celina, TX; Northlake, TX; and Timnath, CO.
Burglary: 80% of the cities reported a year-over-year increase in burglary. All reported at least 8 burglaries in the most recent reporting year.
Larceny-theft: All cities reported at least 22 larceny-theft incidents, and 45% saw a year-over-year decrease.
Motor vehicle theft: Fulshear, TX reported zero motor vehicle thefts. Van Alstyne, TX and Iowa Colony, TX reported one each.

Safety profiles of the top 20 fastest growing cities

VC = Violent crime; PC = Property crime; Crime rates per 1,000 people

Cities are listed in order of population growth.

Liberty Hill, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
3,712 → 11,984 (223%↑)
VC Rate
1.2 → 1.8 (50%↑)
PC Rate
14.3 → 6.2 (-57%↓)

Fulshear, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
17,617 → 54,629 (210%↑)
VC Rate
0.2 → 0.7 (250%↑)
PC Rate
3.9 → 3.6 (-8%↓)
#8 Safest City in TX for 2026

Celina, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
17,816 → 51,661 (190%↑)
VC Rate
1.0 → 1.2 (20%↑)
PC Rate
7.2 → 13.5 (88%↑)

Princeton, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
17,569 → 37,019 (111%↑)
VC Rate
1.5 → 2.7 (80%↑)
PC Rate
11.2 → 8.6 (-23%↓)

Iowa Colony, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
8,574 → 17,240 (101%↑)
VC Rate
1.6 → 0.8 (-50%↓)
PC Rate
11.1 → 5.9 (-47%↓)

Northlake, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
5,509 → 10,746 (101%↑)
VC Rate
1.4 → 1.4 (0%)
PC Rate
17.3 → 14.7 (-15%↓)

Royse City, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
13,756 → 26,387 (92%↑)
VC Rate
1.7 → 0.9 (-47%↓)
PC Rate
13.3 → 9.0 (-32%↓)

Manvel, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
10,214 → 19,309 (89%↑)
VC Rate
1.1 → 0.9 (-18%↓)
PC Rate
6.5 → 9.2 (42%↑)

Lavon, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
4,544 → 8,491 (87%↑)
VC Rate
0.8 → 2.1 (163%↑)
PC Rate
5.9 → 16.7 (183%↑)
*Crime rates from 2022 to 2024 due to incomplete FBI data

#10

Melissa, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
14,336 → 26,194 (83%↑)
VC Rate
0.7 → 0.4 (-43%↓)
PC Rate
7.5 → 3.6 (-52%↓)
#4 Safest City in TX for 2026

#11

Anna, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
17,552 → 31,986 (82%↑)
VC Rate
0.9 → 1.6 (78%↑)
PC Rate 2026, 2025
10.2 → 7.2 (-29%↓)

#12

Hardeeville, SC

Population 2020 → 2024
7,733 → 13,862 (79%↑)
VC Rate
6.0 → 1.6 (-73%↓)
PC Rate
22.0 → 15.4 (-30%↓)

#13

Venus, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
4,604 → 8,209 (78%↑)
VC Rate
2.8 → 1.0 (-64%↓)
PC Rate
7.9 → 4.0 (-49%↓)

#14

Tontitown, AR

Population 2020 → 2024
4,685 → 7,941 (70%↑)
VC Rate
2.5 → 1.3 (48%↑)
PC Rate
14.2 → 5.1 (-64%↓)
#8 Safest City in AR for 2026
*Crime rates from 2022 to 2024 due to incomplete FBI data

#15

Wendell, NC

Population 2020 → 2024
9,991 → 16,845 (69%↑)
VC Rate
1.3 → 1.3 (0%)
PC Rate
11.6 → 10.8 (-7%↓)

#16

Aubrey, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
5,373 → 8,843 (65%↑)
VC Rate
0.9 → 3.7 (311%↑)
PC Rate
8.3 → 15.5 (87%↑)

#17

Van Alstyne, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
4,464 → 7,220 (62%↑)
VC Rate
0.8 → 0.3 (-63%↓)
PC Rate
5.0 → 7.2 (44%↑)
*Crime rates from 2023 to 2024 due to incomplete FBI data

#18

Forney, TX

Population 2020 → 2024
23,912 → 38,572 (61%↑)
VC Rate
0.8 → 1.6 (100%↑)
PC Rate
15.5 → 6.5 (-58%↓)

#19

Timnath, CO

Population 2020 → 2024
6,745 → 10,848 (61%↑)
VC Rate
0.7 → 0.5 (-29%↓)
PC Rate
12.6 → 9.1 (-28%↓)
#10 Safest City in CO for 2026
*Crime rates from 2022 to 2024 due to incomplete FBI data

#20

Pea Ridge, AR

Population 2020 → 2024
6,672 → 10,190 (53%↑)
VC Rate
3.9 → 3.7 (-5%↓)
PC Rate
12.0 → 7.2 (-40%↓)

Why isn't my city on this list?

It didn't meet our minimum population requirement: We only looked at cities with a population greater than the median population of all U.S. cities that submitted a complete report to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for the most recent completed reporting year, which is about 6,800. This helps us avoid outliers that skew the data.
It didn't report recent data to the FBI: We use data that's been reported to the FBI/NIBRS. Cities aren't required to share their data with the FBI, but nearly 80% do.
It didn't meet our growth requirements: We compared population growth from 2020 to 2024, as this is the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

One notable city missing from our list is Westlake, FL. Westlake's population increased by 630% between 2020 and 2024, making it the nation's fastest growing city by a longshot. Unfortunately, Westlake didn't report crime data to the FBI.

Josephine, TX (290% growth); Dripping Springs, TX (99%); Paradise, CA (79%); Davenport, FL (72%); Mabank, TX (68%); and Star, ID (59%) also didn't make the cut due to a lack of FBI data.

Cities that didn't make it onto our list due to low populations include Medicine Lake, MN (299%); Weston, TX (230%); Godley, TX (186%); Jarrell, TX (184%); Magnolia, TX (166%); Silverhill, AL (155%); East Ellijay, GA (147%); Hoschton, GA (144%); Haslet, TX (137%), Wheelwright, KY (111%); Atlantic Beach, SC (109%); Trenton, SC (109%); Duck Hill, MS (99%); Horace, ND (93%); Oak Ridge, TX (85%); Eagle Lake, FL (83%); Hatton, WA (79%); South Bloomfield, OH (74%); Bolivia, NC (69%); Keenesburg, CO (63%); Elizabeth, CO (61%); Turin, GA (61%); Lake Park, GA (60%); Kemah, TX (58%); Springtown, TX (57%); Boyd, TX (55%); Boys Town, NE (55%); Hideout, UT (54%); Ponderay, ID (54%); Woodmont, CT (54%); Pilot Point, TX (53%); Waller, TX (53%); and Paradise, TX (53%).

From rankings to real-world safety

Our Safest Cities rankings help highlight crime incidence patterns and relative risk — but they don’t determine what happens in a community or a home. How safe a community is (or isn't) is the result of a mix of individual choices, community conditions, and external factors like the economy, job market, housing availability, and local priorities.

Expand the sections below for a closer look at what you can do to help improve the safety of your community.

It's not possible to eliminate risk entirely, but you can reduce your potential risk by staying informed about local crime trends, practicing situational awareness (know who belongs in your neighborhood, work parking lot, etc.), and taking practical steps to protect yourself and your property.

Getting involved in your community can make a big difference — but you should expect certain baseline crime prevention measures from your neighborhood and city.

Good lighting in public spaces
Visible community law enforcement presence
Neighborhood watch-type groups/support
Access to a community liasion officer or department
Budget to support community safety programs (beyond law enforcement)

Strong local networks — whether formal or informal (or in-person or virtual) — can play an essential role in improving safety beyond what statistics alone can capture.

Our research and national crime data consistently point to the value of layered prevention. This means that the more layers you put between your home and loved ones and criminals, the better chance you have of actually deterring a criminal act.

Multiple security layers can look like a neighborhood watch plan combined with locking your doors when you leave the house, and a security camera with a siren that can scare an intruder away. A monitored security system that connects you to faster help if something happens adds an extra proactive layer.

Research-backed practices that help reduce exposure include:

Community prevention: Improved lighting, clear sightlines (trim hedges and bushes near doors/windows), and coordinated neighborhood efforts
Awareness and reporting: Stay alert, trust your instincts, know who and what belongs in your neighborhood, and report suspicious behavior
Home safety fundamentals: Secure all entry points (don't forget the deck or the sliding glass door), eliminate hiding spots around your home, and get into consistent security routines (locking the door, arming the security system)
Targeted technology use: Pair common-sense safety habits with tools that support awareness or response, like monitored security systems or cameras

Explore our safety research
See crime trends by state
Learn more about home security essentials

Find the safest cities in each state

Click on the state below to check out the safest cities for each state.

How we determine and interpret these rankings

Our Safest Cities rankings offer a data-informed look at crime trends across cities. They’re designed to highlight relative risk — not to define overall quality of life or what it’s like to live in a community.

We use the most recent FBI-reported violent and property crime data, and adjust for population so we can compare cities of different sizes fairly. This approach helps us identify patterns and differences in reported crime rates.

Our analysis includes only crime data from agencies that submitted complete reports to the FBI through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). We do not estimate crime totals for agencies with incomplete reporting, so our findings and crime rate trends may differ from reports that include estimated national crime data.

We understand that crime statistics reported to one source don’t tell the whole story. A number of factors, including local agency reporting practices, community resources, prevention efforts, and lived experience all influence how safe a place is (or is perceived to be) — and not all of that shows up in the numbers.

Think of these rankings as a starting point. Our goal is to help readers understand crime trends and ask informed questions, not to judge communities or the people who call them home.

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

Get a deeper understanding of our independent research, data sources, calculations, and how we refine our reports each year.