Although Oklahoma’s statewide crime rates are not very impressive (the state is 40th in property crime and 39th in violent crime), many of the Sooner State’s cities are very safe, logging low rates of violent and property crime. Here’s a glance at Oklahoma’s five safest cities.

Weatherford earns the honor of being named Oklahoma’s safest city on the strength of a violent crime rate of just 1.64 per 1,000, which is less than half of the national average. The city’s below average property crime rate is not bad, either. 

In the #2 spot is Elk City, a city in Beckham County with remarkably low crime numbers. The city, a stop along Historic U.S. Route 66, logged a mere 9 violent crimes in 2017 for an average below 1 violent crime per 1,000. Elk City’s property crime rate is less impressive, yet still below the national average.

Oklahoma City suburb Yukon is #3 in the ranking of Oklahoma’s safest cities. Yukon’s violent crime rate is less than a third of the Oklahoma state average, making it a safe, family friendly community to settle down in for those commuting into OKC for work.

Fourth place, Miami is the capital city of Oklahoma’s Miami Tribe as well as that of four other Native tribes. While its crime rates are not as impressive as those of the state’s top three safest cities, Miami still logged violent and property crime rates under state and national averages.

At #5 is El Reno, another Oklahoma City suburb that posted a 2.77 per 1K violent crime rate and 17.2 per 1K property crime rate.

Oregon is an outlier among U.S. states due its starkly contrasting rates of violent and property crime. Its violent crime rate of 2.82 per 1,000 is good for 15th lowest in the nation, yet its property crime rate is 7th highest in the U.S.

Regardless, a handful of Oregon cities are very safe and family friendly communities, with 8 of them scoring above a 0.2 on our Safety Index, which factors in FBI crime data along with law enforcement employment numbers to rate the safety of a given community. A score of 0.2 or higher indicates a very favorable level of public safety and crime rates below national averages. However, four Oregon cities truly distinguished themselves with Safety Index scores higher than 0.3. Let’s take a closer look at them.

Oregon’s safest community is Newberg-Dundee, actually two cities in the Portland area combined for statistical purposes.  Newberg-Dundee logged an impressive violent crime rate of 1.42 per 1,000 inhabitants.

Lake Oswego is Oregon’s second safest city. The affluent Clackamas County community recorded very impressive crime rates well below state and national averages, making it one of the best places in the state to live. In particular, Lake Oswego’s violent crime rate of 0.38 per 1,000 (about a tenth of the national average) stands out as an admirable achievement.

La Grande, a city of around 13K in the northeast part of the state, ranks #3 on the list, earning a Safety Index score of 0.36 based on the strength of its low rate of violent crime. #4 Sherwood bests La Grande in both violent and property crimes, which are some of the lowest in the state. Sherwood is kept out a higher position in the ranking due to its low ratio of law enforcement employees to residents, although with such a low rate of crime, perhaps a large police force is unnecessary.

Among the 50 states, Pennsylvania fares very well in terms of safety: the Keystone State’s violent crime rate is 21st lowest in the nation, while its property crime rate is 8th lowest. Pennsylvania’s overall safety looks more impressive when we examine its cities on an individual basis.

We gave each of Pennsylvania’s cities with a population over 10,000 a score on our Safety Index, which factors in FBI crime data as well as law enforcement employee numbers, and 99 of the state’s cities scored a 0.3 or above, indicating a high level of safety and crime rates considerably below national averages. What’s more, 7 Pennsylvania cities earned a score of 0.6 or higher on the Safety Index, placing them among the safest cities in the country to settle down in and raise a family.

Munhall is Pennsylvania’s safest city, garnering a 0.71 Safety Index score on the strength of an extremely low violent crime rate of 0.54 per 1,000 and a property crime rate a quarter of the national average. With a Safety Index score of 0.7, Willistown Township is close behind. The small community of near 11K didn’t log a single violent crime in 2017.

Whitemarsh Township is third in the ranking of Pennsylvania’s safest cities. The Philadelphia suburb posted an admirable 0.56 per 1k violent crime rate. Another suburb of Pennsylvania, Whitehall, lands at #4 with some of the most impressively low crime rates in the state. Whitehall logged just 4 violent crimes in 2017, the latest year for which complete statistics are available.

Three further Pennsylvania communities, Lower Merion Township, Cecil Township, and Horsham Township, truly distinguished themselves as extremely safe places to live, with each recording violent crime rates a small fraction of the nationwide average.

With the 9th lowest violent and property crime rates in the nation, Rhode Island can definitely lay claim to being one of the safest states to live in. Of all of the state’s cities, just 4 (Central Falls, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, and Providence) recorded violent crime rates above the national average. The rest enjoy low rates of both violent and property crime, though 7 cities truly distinguished themselves through earning a Safety Index score above 0.7, putting them in the upper echelon of safe cities in the United States.

Narragansett is Rhode Island’s safest community. The coastal resort town, whose population is known to double in size during the summer months, recorded a violent crime rate of just 0.64 per 1,000, Furthermore, Narragansett logged a property crime rate of 6.94 per 1,000, which is unusually low for a resort community. Following closely behind is #2 East Greenwich, the wealthiest municipality in Rhode Island, which boasts a violent crime rate even lower than Narragansett.

Ranking #3 is Scituate, a modestly-sized town in Providence County that logged just 5 violent crimes and 43 property crimes in 2017, followed by #4 Smithfield, a city that boasts a similar violent crime rate yet slightly higher property crime rate.

Three other Rhode Island cities, South Kingstown, Glocester, and Middletown, earned a Safety Index of 0.7, based on the strength of violent and property crime rates a mere fraction of national averages in each category. Of these, Glocester has the lowest amount of crime, posting a 0.29 per 1,000 violent crime rate and 3.26 property crime rate (lower than the overall U.S. violent crime rate).

Although it’s not one of the safer states in the country, South Carolina is home to a number of communities that are quite safe and family-friendly. In total, 9 South Carolina cities scored a 0.25 or higher on our Safety Index, which factors in FBI crime statistics and law enforcement employee numbers to determine the safety of a given community.

 A score of 0.25 or higher indicates a high level of safety and crime rates below national averages, i.e., a suitable community to settle down and raise a family in. Let’s look at some of South Carolina’s safest cities.

North Myrtle Beach is the safest city in South Carolina, according to our Safety Index. While property crime is high in the beachside community, it logged a violent crime rate below the state average and features one of the most well staffed police forces around, boasting a law enforcement to resident ratio of 9.17 per 1,000 residents.

Second is Clemson, home to Clemson University, boasts considerably lower crime rates than #1 North Myrtle Beach, logging a very low 0.49 per 1,000 violent crime rate and 19.16 per 1,000 property crime rate. Clemson is kept out of the top spot only because of its lower ratio of police to residents, yet depending on your perspective, it may actually be the safest city in the state.

Two other South Carolina cities, Tega Cay (#3) and Charleston (#4), scored above a 0.5 on the Safety Index, with each city logging violent and property crime rates below state and national averages. Tega Cay boasts a lower violent crime rate, yet Charleston offers a considerably higher ratio of police officers to residents.

With a higher-than-average violent crime rate and lower-than-average property crime, South Dakota is something of an anomaly as far as its overall crime situation is concerned. Fortunately, for those seeking a safe haven in the Mount Rushmore state, South Dakota is home to three cities with favorably low rates in both key crime categories.

Brandon is South Dakota’s safest city. The quaint Sioux Falls suburb recorded a scant 26 property crimes in 2017, calculating into an extremely low 2.57 per 1,000 rate of property crime, which is lower than the national violent crime rate. Even more impressive is Brandon’s violent crime situation: none were reported in 2017, the latest year for which complete statistics are available. If there’s anywhere in South Dakota where you can be completely assured of the safety of you and your loved ones, it’s Brandon.

Ranking #2 in South Dakota is Brookings, which, with a population of 24,198, is the 4th largest city in the state. The city’s violent crime rate of 1.49 per 1,000 is around a third of South Dakota’s state average, while its property crime rate is also below the state average. This is all the more impressive considering that Brookings is home to South Dakota State University, the state’s largest higher learning institute.

Huron, named after the Huron Native American tribe, is the last of the three South Dakota cities deemed to be very safe. The city earned a 0.14 Safety Index score based on the strength of its  violent and property crime rates below state average.