Safest Cities in New York, 2021

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Overall, New York fares very well in terms of safety compared to the rest of the nation: its violent crime rate is 24th lowest in the country, but the state is just 5th in property crime. New York’s individual cities fare very well on our Safety Index, which is a combination of FBI crime statistics and law enforcement employee to resident ratio used to measure the safety of a given community. While an impressive 61 New York cities score a 0.3 or higher on the Safety Index, indicating a very high level of safety, let’s place our focus on the state’s top five safest cities.

New York State’s safest community is East Hampton Town, an affluent Long Island community which logged a very high 1.29 score on the Safety Index. East Hampton enjoys a low violent crime rate of 0.85 per 1,000 and a property crime rate of 11.34 per 1,000.

Not far behind is #2 Port Washington, another wealthy Long Island community known for its myriad parks, marinas and golf courses. The well-to-do community of 19K recorded a scant 5 violent crimes in 2017 for a rate of violent crime over 14 times lower than the national average.

Ranking #3 is Floral Park, our third Long Island community in a row. Floral Park logged a 0.98 Safety Index score based on a 0.56 per 1,000 violent crime rate and property crime rate below the national violent crime rate (a considerable feat). Behind it is Southold (#4), another very safe Long Island town with a violent crime rate under 1 per 1,000.

Rounding out New York’s top five safest cities is the first non-Long Island community, Mamaroneck of Westchester County, which averaged 1 violent crime per 1,000 residents.  

Safest Cities in New York, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1East Hampton Town1.29
2Port Washington1.13
3Floral Park Village0.98
4Southold Town0.96
5Mamaroneck Town0.95
6Tarrytown Village0.92
7New York0.91
8Garden City Village0.91
9Harrison Town0.88
10Bedford Town0.85
11Lynbrook Village0.85
12Rye0.84
13Scarsdale Village0.81
14Long Beach0.79
15Dobbs Ferry Village0.78
16Mamaroneck Village0.78
17Eastchester Town0.75
18Rockville Centre Village0.7
19White Plains0.69
20Glen Cove0.68
21Peekskill0.66
22Warwick Town0.6
23Yorktown Town0.6
24Orangetown Town0.56
25Cortland0.56
26Stony Point Town0.53
27East Aurora-Aurora Town0.52
28Freeport Village0.5
29Plattsburgh City0.49
30Saratoga Springs0.49
31Tonawanda Town0.47
32Southampton Town0.47
33Haverstraw Town0.47
34Lancaster Town0.45
35Depew Village0.45
36New Rochelle0.45
37Clarkstown Town0.45
38Oswego City0.44
39East Fishkill Town0.44
40Yonkers0.43
41Fallsburg Town0.43
42Ramapo Town0.42
43New Windsor Town0.41
44Schodack Town0.41
45Port Chester Village0.41
46East Greenbush Town0.39
47North Greenbush Town0.38
48West Seneca Town0.38
49Evans Town0.37
50Amsterdam0.36
51Kingston0.35
52Lloyd Town0.35
53Orchard Park Town0.35
54Manlius Town0.34
55Kenmore Village0.34
56New Paltz Town and Village0.32
57Glens Falls0.31
58Lewisboro Town0.3
59Blooming Grove Town0.3
60Ulster Town0.3
61Fredonia Village0.3
62Saugerties Town0.29
63Oneonta City0.29
64Rome0.28
65Cohoes0.28
66Geneva0.28
67Geddes Town0.27
68North Tonawanda0.27
69Amherst Town0.26
70Olean0.26
71Camillus Town and Village0.26
72Beacon0.23
73Dunkirk0.23
74Shawangunk Town0.23
75Colonie Town0.21
76Hamburg Town0.21
77Guilderland Town0.21
78Niskayuna Town0.21
79Ogden Town0.17
80Vestal Town0.17
81Ithaca0.15
82Brighton Town0.14
83Newburgh Town0.12
84Canandaigua0.11
85Glenville Town0.11
86Tonawanda0.11
87Ogdensburg0.1
88Middletown0.08
89Woodbury Town0.05
90Rotterdam Town0.01
91Dewitt Town0.01
92Mount Vernon0
93New Hartford Town and Village-0.02
94Cheektowaga Town-0.02
95Poughkeepsie-0.03
96Watervliet-0.03
97Greece Town-0.06
98Wallkill Town-0.07
99Hempstead Village-0.08
100Irondequoit Town-0.09
101Corning-0.1
102Gloversville-0.11
103Spring Valley Village-0.16
104Gates Town-0.21
105Utica-0.31
106Syracuse-0.41
107Albany-0.49
108Endicott Village-0.5
109Watertown-0.51
110Rochester-0.55
111Jamestown-0.58
112Troy-0.66
113Batavia-0.69
114Binghamton-0.77
115Johnson City Village-0.8
116Buffalo-0.88
117Schenectady-0.91
118Newburgh-1.19
119Niagara Falls-1.26

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

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Safest Cities in New Mexico, 2021

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Unfortunately, New Mexico is not one of the safest states in the nation, recording the highest rate of property crime and 2nd highest rate of violent crime. However, some individual communities achieved decent scores on our Safety Index, which rates the safety of a city based on FBI crime statistics and law enforcement data, proving that there solid, safe options in the state in which to raise a family.

New Mexico’s safest city is Los Alamos, earning a very high 0.98 Safety Index score that dwarfs those of every other community in the state. The small city, which is famous for its proximity to the Los Alamos National Lab where the atomic bomb was created, recorded a 1.65 per 1,000 inhabitants rate of violent crime, which is nearly five times lower than the state average, as well as a property crime rate seven times below the state average.

It’s a steep drop off to New Mexico’s #2 safest city, Portales, which logged a -0.02 Safety Index score. Yet, despite the city’s high level of property crime, Portales achieved a decent 2.01 per 1,000 violent crime rate that is a third of New Mexico’s state average.

Alamogordo logged a violent crime rate of 3.6 per 1,000 that is slightly below the national average, while its property crime level is slightly above the national average. Capital city Santa Fe (#4) logged similar numbers, which isn’t bad for a city its size, and shouldn’t detract from the city’s many charms.

Rounding out New Mexico’s top five safest cities is Las Vegas (not that one), recording a 7.52 per 1,000 violent crime rate which is near New Mexico’s state average.

Safest Cities in New Mexico, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Los Alamos0.98
2Portales-0.02
3Alamogordo-0.07
4Santa Fe-0.17
5Las Vegas-0.28
6Carlsbad-0.3
7Deming-0.47
8Roswell-0.8
9Artesia-1.14
10Clovis-1.28
11Farmington-1.36
12Los Lunas-1.66
13Gallup-2.22

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

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Safest Cities in New Jersey, 2021

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The Garden State boasts an excellent safety record, recording the 6th lowest property crime rate along with the 8th lowest violent crime rate in the United States. Unsurprisingly, dozens of individual New Jersey cities fared very well on our Safety Index, which factors in FBI crime statistics and law enforcement data to determine the safety of a given community. 

A whopping 206 New Jersey cities scored a 0.3 or higher on the Safety Index, more than any other state. What’s more, 116 cities scored a 0.6 or higher, indicating an extremely high level of safety and crime rates well below the national average. While you’d be hard pressed to find a particularly dangerous community in the state (outside of a handful of larger cities), let’s put the focus on New Jersey’s six safest cities, all scoring a 0.93 or higher on the Safety Index.

Ocean City is our pick for New Jersey’s safest city, scoring a sky high 1.35 on our Safety Index. The seaside resort community recorded just 12 violent crimes in 2017 for a low 1.13 per 1,000 inhabitants.

Weehawken Township also performed very well on the Safety Index, logging a 1.09 Safety index score on the strength of a violent crime rate under 1 per 1,000 inhabitants.

Not far behind is #3 Ventnor City. The city of just over 10K recorded an impressively low 0.58 violent crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, although its property crime rate is above the national average.

Ranking 4th is Wall Township, a steadily growing community in Monmouth County known for its coastline and many public parks. Wall Township recorded a 0.73 per 1,000 violent crime rate and an equally impressive 9.79 per 1,000 property crime rate.

Sharing the #5 spot are Tenafly and Florham Park, which each scored a 0.93 on the Safety Index. Both achieved violent crime rates below 1 per 1,000 and property crime rates below 10 per 1,000.

Safest Cities in New Jersey, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Ocean City1.35
2Weehawken Township1.09
3Ventnor City1.07
4Wall Township0.94
5Tenafly0.93
6Florham Park0.93
7Cranford Township0.91
8Roselle Park0.91
9Marlboro Township0.9
10Ridgefield0.89
11Franklin Lakes0.89
12Hasbrouck Heights0.89
13Fort Lee0.89
14Denville Township0.89
15East Hanover Township0.88
16New Milford0.87
17Clark Township0.86
18Pequannock Township0.86
19Robbinsville Township0.86
20Verona0.85
21Lincoln Park0.84
22Berkeley Heights Township0.84
23Westwood0.84
24Holmdel Township0.82
25West Caldwell Township0.82
26Chatham Township0.81
27Red Bank0.81
28Warren Township0.81
29Nutley Township0.81
30East Rutherford0.8
31Madison0.8
32Westfield0.79
33Springfield Township, Union County0.79
34Livingston Township0.79
35River Vale Township0.79
36Secaucus0.79
37Ramsey0.78
38Wanaque0.78
39Cedar Grove Township0.78
40Ridgefield Park0.78
41Waldwick0.78
42Mahwah Township0.77
43Hillsdale0.76
44Ringwood0.76
45Sparta Township0.75
46Edgewater0.74
47River Edge0.74
48Dumont0.74
49Branchburg Township0.73
50Bergenfield0.73
51Waterford Township0.72
52Morris Township0.72
53Princeton0.72
54Englewood0.71
55Somerville0.71
56Little Ferry0.71
57Roselle0.71
58Bloomfield0.71
59Summit0.71
60Jefferson Township0.7
61Middlesex Borough0.7
62Mount Olive Township0.7
63South Brunswick Township0.7
64Bayonne0.7
65Lyndhurst Township0.69
66Union Township0.69
67Plainsboro Township0.69
68South River0.69
69Hopewell Township0.68
70Rahway0.68
71Rockaway Township0.68
72Hazlet Township0.68
73Barnegat Township0.68
74Montville Township0.68
75Hanover Township0.68
76Manchester Township0.68
77Millburn Township0.68
78Woolwich Township0.67
79Washington Township, Morris County0.67
80Readington Township0.67
81Aberdeen Township0.67
82Glen Rock0.66
83Monroe Township, Middlesex County0.66
84Point Pleasant0.66
85Highland Park0.66
86Stafford Township0.66
87Paramus0.66
88Clinton Township0.66
89Little Egg Harbor Township0.66
90Tinton Falls0.65
91Palisades Park0.65
92Montclair0.65
93Teaneck Township0.65
94Parsippany-Troy Hills Township0.64
95Oakland0.64
96New Providence0.64
97Winslow Township0.64
98Berkeley Township0.63
99Scotch Plains Township0.63
100Ridgewood0.63
101Rutherford0.63
102Wayne Township0.63
103Metuchen0.63
104Hopatcong0.63
105Montgomery Township0.62
106Raritan Township0.61
107Bernards Township0.61
108Jackson Township0.6
109South Orange Village0.6
110Hammonton0.6
111Maplewood Township0.6
112Randolph Township0.6
113Sayreville0.6
114Roxbury Township0.6
115Fairview0.6
116East Brunswick Township0.6
117Kearny0.59
118Saddle Brook Township0.59
119Bridgewater Township0.59
120Morristown0.59
121Kinnelon0.59
122Vernon Township0.58
123South Plainfield0.58
124Brick Township0.57
125Atlantic City0.57
126Howell Township0.57
127Little Falls Township0.56
128Hackensack0.56
129West Windsor Township0.56
130Middle Township0.56
131Wallington0.55
132Pompton Lakes0.55
133Fair Lawn0.55
134North Arlington0.55
135Middletown Township0.55
136Carteret0.55
137Hillsborough Township0.55
138Bordentown Township0.54
139East Greenwich Township0.54
140Freehold Borough0.54
141Belleville0.53
142Somers Point0.53
143Bound Brook0.53
144Lower Township0.52
145West Milford Township0.52
146Edison Township0.52
147Totowa0.52
148Long Branch0.52
149Hawthorne0.52
150Manville0.52
151Florence Township0.51
152Hillside Township0.51
153West Deptford Township0.51
154Toms River Township0.51
155Glassboro0.51
156Cliffside Park0.51
157Franklin Township, Gloucester County0.51
158Medford Township0.51
159Ocean Township, Monmouth County0.51
160Harrison Township0.5
161Haddonfield0.5
162Woodbridge Township0.5
163Old Bridge Township0.5
164Wyckoff Township0.5
165Lacey Township0.5
166Evesham Township0.5
167Woodland Park0.49
168East Windsor Township0.49
169North Brunswick Township0.48
170Moorestown Township0.48
171Piscataway Township0.48
172Egg Harbor Township0.48
173Beachwood0.48
174Elmwood Park0.47
175Delran Township0.47
176Franklin Township, Somerset County0.47
177Eatontown0.45
178North Bergen Township0.45
179Manalapan Township0.44
180Union City0.43
181Guttenberg0.43
182Burlington Township0.42
183Linden0.41
184Lakewood Township0.41
185West New York0.4
186Mount Laurel Township0.4
187Ewing Township0.39
188Gloucester City0.39
189Gloucester Township0.39
190Monroe Township, Gloucester County0.38
191Bellmawr0.38
192Perth Amboy0.37
193Hoboken0.37
194Mantua Township0.36
195Lawrence Township, Mercer County0.35
196Freehold Township0.35
197Washington Township, Gloucester County0.35
198Dover0.34
199Hamilton Township, Mercer County0.33
200Galloway Township0.32
201Voorhees Township0.32
202West Orange0.32
203Phillipsburg0.31
204Cinnaminson Township0.31
205Pennsville Township0.3
206Garfield0.3
207Lodi0.29
208Jersey City0.27
209Clifton0.26
210Haddon Township0.26
211Hamilton Township, Atlantic County0.25
212Cherry Hill Township0.22
213Collingswood0.18
214Willingboro Township0.18
215Harrison0.16
216Lumberton Township0.14
217North Plainfield0.13
218Maple Shade Township0.11
219Pennsauken Township0.07
220Pine Hill0.01
221Pleasantville0.01
222Deptford Township-0.01
223East Orange-0.03
224Newark-0.04
225Passaic-0.12
226Neptune Township-0.23
227New Brunswick-0.24
228Plainfield-0.25
229Pemberton Township-0.25
230Paterson-0.26
231Orange City-0.32
232Irvington-0.36
233Lindenwold-0.46
234Vineland-0.49
235Elizabeth-0.72
236Millville-0.76
237Asbury Park-0.95
238Trenton-1
239Bridgeton-1.22

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

Did your district make the list? Share the good news!

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Safest Cities in New Hampshire, 2021

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You’d be hard pressed to find a dangerous city in New Hampshire: the Granite State logged the lowest property crime rate of any state in the country, along with the 3rd lowest violent crime rate. This high level of safety is reflected in the many New Hampshire cities scoring very well on our Safety Index, a score based on the latest FBI crime data as well as the ratio of law enforcement employees to residents.

In one of the best showings of any state, 22 New Hampshire cities scored a .03 or higher on the Safety Index, while 8 scored a 0.6 or higher. A remarkable feat considering New Hampshire is the 10th least populous state. Let’s take a closer look at New Hampshire’s five safest cities. 

Portsmouth is our choice for New Hampshire’s safest city.  The historic Rockingham County seaport earned a terrific 0.85 Safety Index score based on a 2.03 per 1,000 violent crime rate and 13.88 property crime rate. Portsmouth’s score is also boosted by its high law enforcement to resident ratio of 3.9 per 1,000.

Not far behind is Londonderry, also of Rockingham county, which lodged a 0.75 score on the Safety Index on the strength of its very low 1.1 per 1,000 violent crime rate and property crime rate less than half of the national average.

Hanover, home of Ivy League Dartmouth College, just trails behind with its 0.71 Safety Index score. The city is very safe, logging a violent crime rate below 1 per 1,000 based on just 9 recorded violent crimes in 2017.

Rounding out New Hampshire’s top five safest cities are Hudson (#4) and Merrimack (#5). Each scored above a 0.6 on the Safety Index and enjoy violent and property crime rates well below half of the national average in each category.

Safest Cities in New Hampshire, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Portsmouth0.85
2Londonderry0.75
3Hanover0.71
4Hudson0.65
5Merrimack0.64
6Raymond0.62
7Bedford0.61
8Pelham0.6
9Windham0.59
10Dover0.58
11Milford0.58
12Hooksett0.57
13Hampton0.55
14Nashua0.52
15Salem0.52
16Amherst0.51
17Exeter0.49
18Berlin0.48
19Durham0.47
20Goffstown0.47
21Derry0.46
22Lebanon0.32
23Claremont0.2
24Concord0.11
25Somersworth0.07
26Keene0.03
27Laconia-0.22
28Rochester-0.39
29Manchester-0.48

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

Did your district make the list? Share the good news!

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Safest Cities in Nevada, 2021

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Although it’s mainly known as the home of Las Vegas, the prime destination for folks around the country to fly into for a weekend and indulge in gambling and other vices, Nevada has a handful of other cities with a safe, family-friendly character far removed from the glitz and rambunctiousness of the Vegas Strip. 

In order to determine the Silver State’s safest cities, we analyzed the crime rates and police forces of each of Nevada’s eight cities with a population over 10,000, giving each a score in our Safety Index. Of the eight cities, three scored very well, two had average ratings, and three fared poorly. Let’s see how Nevada’s cities stack up.

First, let’s talk about the cities that scored the highest on the Safety Index, indicating a high level of safety. Nevada’s clear leader in terms of safety is Boulder City, which scored an impressive 0.83 on our Safety Index. The city of 15K about 26 miles south of Las Vegas recorded an excellent 0.57 per 1,000 violent crime rate, along with a property crime rate less than half of the national average. The fact that Boulder City is just one of two Nevada cities where gambling is prohibited may have something to do with its low crime levels. 

Along with Boulder City, two other cities also enjoy low levels of crime: Mesquite, a quiet resort community along the Arizona state line, and Henderson, a large city which borders Las Vegas and is home to many casinos, as well. Both cities logged violent crimes rate below 2 per 1,000 and property crime rates below 10 per 1,000, indicating that they are reasonably safe.

Las Vegas and Elko, a city of around 20K in the northwest part of the state, belong in the middle of the pack in terms of safety. Las Vega’s 6.18 per 1,000 violent crime rate is above average, but not unusually high for a city its size.

Now, let’s talk about the cities with scores on the bottom rung of the Safety Index: Sparks, Reno and North Las Vegas. Each earned a middling Safety Index score of -0.5 or lower due to average-to-poor violent crime rates and property crime rates above the national average.

Safest Cities in Nevada, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Boulder City0.83
2Mesquite0.36
3Henderson0.24
4Las Vegas -0.25
5Elko-0.35
6Sparks-0.5
7Reno-0.87
8North Las Vegas-1.26

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

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Safest Cities in Montana, 2021

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In terms of safety, Montana ranks around the middle of the pack among U.S. states: 31st in property crime and 29th in violent crime. Many of Montana’s smaller communities (population < 10,000) have rather low crime rates, though in computing our Safety Index scores, we eliminated cities below 10K in population from consideration, leaving the six larger Montana communities, which did not perform as well.

Kalispell and Bozeman share the honor of Montana’s safest city (within the population parameters), each earning a -0.17 Safety Index score. Of the two cities, the larger city of Bozeman looks more impressive on paper, with a 2.78 per 1,000 violent crime rate that is below state and national averages in the category.

Great Falls ranks #3 in safety among Montana’s cities. The county seat of Cascade County recorded violent and property crime rates above Montana state averages in both categories, yet still compares favorably to other Montana cities.

Missoula, home of the University of Montana, trails behind at #4, followed by state capital Helena at #5. Both cities recorded violent crime rates above 4.8 per 1,000 as well as correspondingly high property crime rates.

Montana’s largest city, Billings, is also its least safe, earning a Safety Index score of -0.97 due to a violent crime rate of 4.93 per 1,000 and property crime rate of 54.58 per 1,000.

Safest Cities in Montana, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Kalispell-0.17
2Bozeman-0.17
3Great Falls-0.6
4Missoula-0.74
5Helena-0.85
6Billings-0.97

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

Did your district make the list? Share the good news!

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Safest Cities in Missouri, 2021

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Missouri is a good example of a state whose statewide crime averages are poorly representative of many communities within the state. On a whole, Missouri ranks 38th in property crime and 44th in violent crime, which isn’t very impressive. However, a large number of the state’s cities score very high on our Safety Index, which combines FBI crime statistics along with law enforcement employment numbers to measure the safety of a given community. 

Overall, 21 Missouri cities log a 0.3 score or higher on the Safety Index, a strong indication that, despite Missouri’s statewide performance (skewed by high crime rates in large cities), there is certainly no shortage of safe, family-friendly communities in the Show Me State. Let’s look at some of the safest. 

Town and Country is our pick for the safest city in Missouri. The affluent suburb of St. Louis earned a remarkable 0.81 Safety Index score based on the strength of a very low 0.45 per 1,000 violent crime rate, along with a property crime rate well under half of the state average.

Clayton’s safety record is nearly as impressive as Town and Country’s: the city of 16.7K logged just 20 violent crimes in 2017, or less than 1 every two weeks.

Third in the ranking is Kirkwood, which logged a violent crime rate of just over 1 incident per 1,000 residents, a number that is over five times below the Missouri state average. The city is a great place in which to raise a family.

If it weren’t for its low ratio of law enforcement employees to residents (perhaps no more are needed), #4 Ballwin would be higher in the ranking: the city of over 30,000 achieved a scant 0.4 per 1,000 violent crime rate.

Manchester (#5) and Creve Coeur (#6) are two further Missouri cities to distinguish themselves by earning Safety Index scores higher than 0.6 through recording violent crime rates significantly below the state average.

Safest Cities in Missouri, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Town and Country0.81
2Clayton0.77
3Kirkwood0.67
4Ballwin0.66
5Manchester0.62
6Creve Coeur0.61
7Eureka0.54
8St. Ann0.53
9Webster Groves0.53
10Lake St. Louis0.51
11Crestwood0.51
12Maryland Heights0.48
13Mexico0.44
14Chesterfield0.43
15Excelsior Springs0.43
16Wentzville0.38
17Jackson0.36
18Raymore0.36
19Maryville0.35
20Nixa0.35
21Kearney0.34
22Lee's Summit0.29
23Overland0.28
24O'Fallon0.27
25Sikeston0.23
26Florissant0.22
27Webb City0.21
28St. Peters0.2
29Grain Valley0.2
30Festus0.19
31Blue Springs0.16
32Marshall0.14
33Hazelwood0.12
34St. Charles0.09
35Arnold0.09
36Liberty0.07
37Jefferson City0.07
38Warrensburg0.03
39Fulton0.03
40Troy-0.06
41West Plains-0.08
42Ozark-0.09
43Republic-0.11
44Farmington-0.16
45Lebanon-0.2
46Washington-0.21
47Belton-0.21
48Gladstone-0.22
49Harrisonville-0.22
50Union-0.25
51Kirksville-0.26
52Moberly-0.3
53Carthage-0.35
54Neosho-0.36
55Rolla-0.44
56Bolivar-0.47
57Cape Girardeau-0.47
58Hannibal-0.54
59University City-0.55
60Columbia-0.57
61Bellefontaine Neighbors-0.66
62Bridgeton-0.72
63Poplar Bluff-0.74
64Grandview-0.75
65Kennett-0.86
66Sedalia-0.9
67Independence-0.91
68Raytown-0.93
69Ferguson-0.94
70Branson-0.96
71St. Joseph-1.09
72Joplin-1.12
73Vinita Park-1.16
74Kansas City-2.13
75St. Louis-2.5
76Springfield-2.6

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

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Safest Cities in Maine, 2021

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Maine is one of the safety states in the United States, if not the safest state. The Pine Tree State recorded the 4th lowest property crime rate and the lowest violent crime rate in the country.

Correspondingly, Maine’s cities boast some of the highest Safety Index scores in the nation, which is our way of determining the safety of U.S. cities based on crime rates and the ratio of law enforcement employees to residents in a given community. Let’s take a look at the five Maine cities which scored above a 0.6 on our Safety Index.

Wells is our pick for the safest community in Maine. The York County coastal town of just over 10K –which was founded all the way back in 1643– recorded a violent crime rate of 0.39 per 1,000 inhabitants based on just four reported violent crimes in 2017. Wells’ property crime rate is similarly impressive: less than half of the national average.

On second place, Scarborough is double the size of Wells, yet managed a nearly identical 0.40 per 1,000 violent crime rate, and a property crime rate a bit higher than our #1 pick, at 15.04, which is well below the national average.

York, Maine’s #3 safest city, is just a hair behind Scarborough in terms of safety, earning a 0.78 Safety Index score versus the latter’s 0.79. The city of 13K logged a mere 9 violent crimes in 2017, along with 143 property crimes.

Fourth in the ranking of Maine’s safest cities is Falmouth, which recorded the lowest violent crime rate of any Maine community with a population over 10,000: a very low 0.33 per 1,000 based on just 4 violent crimes in 2017. The city’s ratio of law enforcement to residents is slightly below others on the list and is the only thing keeping it out of the top spot. 

At number five, Kennebunk is noteworthy for its extremely low property crime rate, just 4.03 per 1,000, which is lower than many cities’ violent crime rates.

Safest Cities in Maine, 2019

RankCitySafety Index
1Wells0.92
2Scarborough0.79
3York0.78
4Falmouth0.66
5Kennebunk0.63
6Gorham0.47
7Brunswick0.42
8Orono0.41
9Saco0.4
10Windham0.39
11Westbrook0.31
12Portland0.28
13Bangor0.24
14Auburn0.22
15South Portland0.21
16Augusta0.18
17Lewiston0.17
18Biddeford0.1
19Sanford0.04
20Waterville-0.02

Methodology

We used the most recent FBI crime statistics to create state rankings. There were initially 7,430 cities in the data set. After filtering out the cities with populations of less than 10,000, 2,929 cities remained. We then calculated violent crime rates and property crime rates by dividing the crime numbers by the population to get rates per 1,000. We also calculated the ratio of law enforcement workers to per 1,000. These were weighted with -50% for the violent crime rate, -25% for the property crime rate, and +25% for the law enforcement rate. The resulting metric gave us a the safety index score. The higher this number more safe the city is.

Did your district make the list? Share the good news!

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