In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. In fact, the National Association of Realtors’ annual survey of homebuyers from 2022 found that nearly half of all buyers (49%) cited the quality of a neighborhood as the No. 1 factor for determining where to live, ahead of both affordability (37%) and proximity to friends and family (37%).
While popular restaurants and shops can be convenient in a neighborhood, safety remains a primary concern. With this in mind, SmartAsset set out to learn which cities in the U.S. are safest. We analyzed data from 200 of the largest cities in the country across the following five metrics: violent crime, property crime, vehicular mortality rate, drug poisoning mortality rate and the percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking.
We also examined the affordability of the 35 safest cities. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, read the Data and Methodology section below.
For an earlier SmartAsset study on the safest cities in America, take a look at the 2022 edition here.
Key Findings
- These cities in the Lone Star State rank safest. Texas is home to several of the nation’s safest cities according to our metrics. Four out of the top five cities with the highest safety ratings are located in Texas, including top-ranked Frisco. All four have violent crime rates lower than 90% of the cities across the study.
- Safety doesn’t always come with a high price tag. In fact, the top five cities in our study are relatively affordable. Housing costs are less than 20% of the median household income in seven out of the 35 cities with the highest safety rankings. Within the top five, Santa Clarita, California, is the most expensive (25.19%) and Frisco, Texas, is the most affordable (18.91%).
- Los Angeles is the safest big city in America. Los Angeles, which ranks 46th, is safest when compared with other cities that have a population of over 1 million. The City of Angels is followed by San Diego (50th), San Antonio (113th), Philadelphia (115th), New York (126th), Dallas (130th), Chicago (139th), Phoenix (148th) and Houston (157th) in our safety rankings.
Top Five Safest Cities
1. Frisco, TX
Frisco ranks No. 1 for safety for the second year in a row. Located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Frisco has the fourth-lowest violent crime rate (95 crimes for every 100,000 residents) and the sixth-lowest property crime rate (901 for every 100,000 residents). Frisco and the surrounding area also averaged eight drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022, which ranked fourth-lowest across our study.
2. McKinney, TX
McKinney, which borders Frisco to the east, has the fifth-lowest property crime rate out of all 200 cities in our study. In 2021, 887 property crimes were reported for every 100,000 residents. This city, with a population of 202,000 people, also has the 10th-lowest violent crime rate (127 for every 100,000 residents). And like Frisco, McKinnney’s drug poisoning mortality rate is tied for the fourth-lowest.
3. McAllen, TX
Located along the U.S.-Mexico border, McAllen is a city with nearly 144,000 people and it ranks third overall for safety. McAllen and the surrounding Hidalgo County have the second-lowest drug poisoning mortality rate (five deaths for every 100,000 residents) in our study and the seventh-lowest percentage of people engaging in excessive drinking (15.27%). The city records 179 violent crimes for every 100,000 residents, which is the 18th-lowest violent crime rate.
4. Santa Clarita, CA
Santa Clarita may be best known as the home to Six Flags Magic Mountain, but the city has been ranked among the safest cities in the country in the last three years. Santa Clarita has the eighth-lowest property crime rate across our study (988 for every 100,000 residents) and the 11th-lowest violent crime rate (131 for every 100,000 residents). And just over 17% of the population in Los Angeles County, where Santa Clarita is located, engage in excessive drinking (35th).
5. Plano, TX
Plano, like nearby Frisco and McKinney, has the fourth-lowest drug poisoning mortality rate. There are 157 violent crimes reported here for every 100,000 residents, making it the 17th-lowest among the 200 cities evaluated for this study.
Top 25 Safest Cities Among The Nation:
1. Frisco, Texas
2. McKinney, Texas
3. McAllen, Texas
4. Santa Clarita, CA
5. Plano, Texas
6. Alexandria, VA
7. Laredo, Texas
8. Glendale, CA
9. Sunnyvale, CA
10. Yonkers, NY
11. Arlington, VA
12. El Paso, Texas
13. Irvine, CA
14. Naperville, IL
15. Torrance, CA
16. Olathe, KA
17. Palmdale, CA
18. Cary, NC
19. Fremont, CA
20. Jersey City, NJ
21. Overland Park, KA
22. Huntington Beach, CA
23. Aurora, IL
24. San Jose, CA
25. Chesapeake, VA
INFORMAITON PROVIDED BY, SMART ASSET