Alabama’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 latest State of Safety survey, 58% of respondents in Alabama reported concern for their safety. This is higher than the national average of 50%. The level of concern isn't surprising since the state falls above national averages for both violent crime and property crime.

Both property crime and violent crime had a big increase year over year, making the state fourth in highest violent crime rates and seventh in property crime rates. 

Alabama’s violent and property crime rates are higher than the national average, and both have increased year over year. The violent crime rate grew from 4.5 per 1,000 residents to 6.0 this year. The state’s property crime rate rose from 21.4 incidents per 1,000 to 25.9.

View the complete 2023 State of Safety report.

Alabama sees more violent crime than most of the country, and respondents saying they feel safe in the state dropped by 19% from the previous year. Those who report experiencing violent crime have also risen 18%.

• 57% of Alabamans worry about a violent crime happening to them—that’s 17% higher than the national average.
• 14% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with violent crime in the past 12 months—lower than the national average of 15%.
• Alabama sees the same percentage of murders as the rest of the country, with murder accounting for 2% of all violent crime.
• Robberies make up 9% of all violent crime in Alabama—45% lower than the national average.
• Aggravated assault is the most common violent crime in the state, with it reporting over 24,000 cases.
• More than half (52%) of the Alabama survey respondents use some form of personal protection like pepper spray. That's much higher than the national average of 39%.
• Pocket knives (48%) and pepper spray (48%) are the most popular form of personal protection used in Alabama. 

• 49% named gun violence a safety concern (US 47%).
• 12% reported an experience with gun violence in the 12 months prior to being surveyed. This is the same as the national average.
• Survey respondents’ gun violence experiences stayed the same from the year before.
• Mass shooting incidents are down 30% year over year in Alabama, from 23 incidents to 16. 
• 44% of Alabamans said that they use concealed weapons for personal protection (US 41%).

Alabama sees more property crime than most states, and property crime is trending upward. Not surprisingly, survey respondents reported a similar experience with property crime year over year.

• 24% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with property crime in the past 12 months. That’s lower than the national average (27%) but the same as last year.
• 29% of Alabamans fell prey to porch pirates in the 12 months prior to being surveyed, which is 14% lower than the national average.
• Larceny-theft is the most common property crime in Alabama, making up 71% of all property crimes—almost matching the US proportion of larceny-thefts (72%).
• Burglary makes up 16% of all property crime in Alabama, compared to 14% nationwide. 
• 18% of survey respondents use no form of property protection (US 24%).
• Firearms, security cameras, and guard dogs are used most often to guard property.
• Of those that use property protection, 39% use firearms, 39% use security cameras, and 39% use guard dogs. 
• 29% say the security of their property has been affected by the pandemic (US 28%).

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.

• Alabama had more cities submit crime data to the FBI, adding to the safest cities list this year. Only eight cities provided data to the FBI for the year before.
• All of the safest cities reported less than 2.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Most reported less than 1.0.
• Kimberly reported zero violent crimes.
• All top four cities (Warrior, Kimberly, Southside, and Hamilton) reported zero rapes and robberies.
• Warrior, our #1 pick, was the only city to report zero burglaries.
• The safest cities have a 51% lower crime rate than the rest of the state.

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
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• 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.