100 Safest Cities in the US

Despite FBI reports that crime across the US is declining, many Americans still feel that crime is on the rise. In fact, around 6 out of 10 (61%) respondents to our annual State of Safety survey said they believe crime is increasing—and less than half (48%) said they felt safe in their home state in 2024.

But plenty of cities remain relatively immune to crime trends and headlines that often plague America’s larger metro areas. The 100 cities and towns that made our list this year reported drastically lower per-capita crime rates than nationwide averages, collectively coming in at 0.2 incidents per 1,000 people (on average) for violent crime and a collective average of 2.4 incidents per 1,000 for property crime.

Comparatively, the US violent crime rate, as calculated by our data analyst, is 3.6 incidents per 1,000 people, while the property crime rate is 19.1 incidents per 1,000.

Curious about cities in your state? Check out the safest cities in every state report.

See if your city made the full list.

• Crime rates
• Interesting findings
• The Safest Cities
• Methodology
• How to make a safe home anywhere
• How other cities compare
• How other states compare

Crime rates and other statistics give us a way to measure "safety" across cities, but this data only scratches the surface. Safety can't be broken down by numbers alone, which don't account for things like how secure people feel in their communities, access to resources, and the underlying social and economic conditions that influence crime and safety.

One of the biggest challenges in ranking safe cities is that we rely on self-reported FBI crime data, which only captures certain aspects of public safety. It doesn't reflect issues like racial and economic disparities or even the impact of sudden policy changes—like deportations, or shifts in law enforcement priorities—that can make communities feel more or less safe.

This ranking of the 100 safest cities in the U.S. relies on self-reported crime data from law enforcement agencies across the country. It's the most comprehensive set of data that covers the largest number of cities and towns, but it only uses one dimension of safety. Our intention is to get people thinking about safety, jumpstart conversations, and inspire action in big and small cities, regardless of the per capita crime rate.

Jump to our tips to better evaluate safety in your community and help make a difference.

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.

While there’s no one thing that indicates if a city will report higher or lower numbers of crimes, we’ve noticed some things that stand out about the 100 cities on our list. Here’s a rundown of some of the most interesting factors we’ve uncovered during our analysis.

Crime insights 

• The violent crime rate among the safest cities is 0.2 incidents per 1,000 people—that’s 94% lower than the national rate of 3.6.
• The property crime rate among the safest cities is 2.4 incidents per 1,000—that’s 87% lower than the national rate of 19.1.
• Only 4 cities reported 10 or more total violent crimes and 17 reported zero.
• 79% of the cities reported fewer than 50 total property crimes. 
• 97% of the cities had no murders reported, including the largest cities on the list: Columbus, Indiana; Lexington, Massachusetts; and Zionsville, Indiana.
• 15 cities reported zero burglaries, and only 1 saw more than 100.
• 13 of the 100 safest cities are the number one safest city in their state: CO, CT, IL, IN, ME, MA, NJ, NY, OH, RI, TN, UT, and WI.

Demographic insights 

• Campton Hills is the safest city in the U.S. for 2025, and the safest city in Illinois for the second consecutive year.
• New Jersey leads the way with 17 cities making the list, the most of any state.
• 25 states are represented, 1 fewer than last year.
• The top 3 cities are all from Illinois: Campton Hills, Pingree Grove, and Hawthorn Woods. 
• The average population of the safest cities is 14,401—showing that safety isn’t limited to just small towns.
• Cortland, Ohio, is the smallest city on the list, with a population of 7,048.
• Columbus, Indiana, is the largest city on the list, with 51,658 residents—significantly larger than most other cities in the top 100.

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

To identify the 100 safest cities in the country, we analyzed FBI and NIBRS crime report statistics and population data. The FBI data is for crimes reported in 2023 (the most recent year for which complete data was available as of publication). Our rankings were based solely on per capita crime data; no other factors were included.

Population thresholds 

We established a minimum population threshold equal to the median population of all cities that submitted complete crime reports. Cities that fell below the population threshold and those that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI were excluded.

Crime rates 

Our rankings are based on both violent and property crime numbers. We looked at the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) in each city and the number of reported property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft).

Arson is excluded from the FBI’s property crime rates, so we excluded it as well.

To level the playing field, we calculated the rate of crimes per 1,000 people in each city. This makes it easier to directly compare the likelihood of these crimes occurring in cities with vastly different populations. (By comparison, the FBI uses the number of crimes per 100,000 people to calculate its rates.)

Both violent and property crime numbers were weighted equally. That means that a city with no violent crimes reported could end up lower on the list due to a higher property crime rate, and vice versa. We also standardized violent and property crime for each state before weighting.

Consult our full methodology to learn more about how we rank the Safest Cities.

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

• 10 Most Dangerous Metro Cities in the US 
• 10 Safest Metro Cities in the US
• 50 Safest College Towns
• 50 Safest Cities to Raise a Child
• The State of Safety in America

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed March 21, 2025. 

• 2023 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
  • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement

• 2023 NIBRS Estimation Tables

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed March 21, 2025.

US Census Bureau, “QuickFacts,” Accessed March 21, 2025.