What Are the 10 Safest Places to Live in the U.S.?

What are the 10 safest places to live in the United States right now?

SafeWise’s 2026 ranking identifies these 10 communities using reported violent and property crime rates: Shawangunk, New York; Emerson, New Jersey; Campton Hills, Illinois; Chester, New York; Allendale, New Jersey; Upper Makefield Township, Pennsylvania; Hawthorn Woods, Illinois; Broadview Heights, Ohio; Millis, Massachusetts; and Boxford, Massachusetts. The list uses calendar-year 2024 FBI crime data, the latest complete city reports available when the ranking was published.

The ranking is useful as a comparison of reported crime, not as a universal measure of safety. SafeWise says its 100 listed communities averaged 0.2 violent crimes and 2.2 property crimes per 1,000 people, compared with national figures of 4.43 and 22.89 per 1,000, respectively, as calculated by SafeWise from 2024 data. These averages describe the ranked communities and national comparison; they do not predict an individual resident’s risk.

There is no single definitive top 10. WalletHub’s 2026 ranking names Juneau, Alaska; Warwick, Rhode Island; Overland Park, Kansas; Burlington and South Burlington, Vermont; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Casper, Wyoming; Boise, Idaho; and Yonkers, New York. Its broader criteria make the difference meaningful: a city can perform well on a combined safety score without appearing on a crime-only list.

To use either list for relocation, treat it as a starting filter. Compare the specific neighborhoods and housing options you are considering, then examine affordability and services; a rank cannot tell you whether a commute, climate, or local amenities fit your circumstances.

Which safety rankings use crime rates, and which include health or emergency-response measures?

SafeWise and NeighborhoodScout rank cities primarily by reported crime, while WalletHub adds disaster and financial indicators; none of the supplied rankings is an emergency-response-time ranking. The definition determines what the score can reasonably tell you.

SafeWise counts violent crimes—aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery—and property crimes—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. It converts counts to rates per 1,000 residents and weights violent and property crime equally after standardization. That equal weighting means a higher property-crime rate can affect a place’s position even where its violent-crime rate is low.

Coverage also matters. The FBI reported that more than 16,000 law-enforcement agencies submitted 2024 data, covering 95.6% of the U.S. population; its national estimates are based on offenses reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting program, not every offense that occurred. SafeWise excludes places below its population threshold or without complete reports. The FBI also estimated that violent crime fell 4.5% nationally in 2024 compared with 2023, but a national trend does not establish the safety of a particular city or block.

NeighborhoodScout sets a minimum population of 25,000 and ranks total reported violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents. Its FAQ says it combines reports from multiple law-enforcement agencies with responsibility in a city and uses FBI data classified as final and non-preliminary. Different eligibility rules, data years, reporting completeness, and boundary assignments can therefore produce different lists.

WalletHub compares 182 cities using 41 indicators in home and community safety, natural-disaster risk, and financial safety. Its measures include assault and theft as well as traffic fatalities, disaster risks, unemployment, poverty, insurance, and housing-cost burden. It uses city-proper boundaries, so the score does not automatically represent the surrounding metropolitan area.

Health context is another separate question. The CDC’s December 2025 PLACES release provides 40 local health measures, with estimates down to census tracts and ZIP Code tabulation areas. These measures can inform comparisons of health outcomes, preventive care, and health-related needs, but PLACES does not rank emergency response times; hospital and emergency-service access must be checked separately.

Are the safest places to live also affordable for renters and homebuyers?

A high safety rank does not establish affordability, and the provided rankings do not give comparable rent or home-price figures for all 10 SafeWise communities. Housing costs must be assessed separately from safety scores, using local data and the type of housing you are considering.

For one concrete benchmark, the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 American Community Survey estimates Philadelphia’s median gross rent at $1,397 and median owner-occupied home value at $243,100. The same Census QuickFacts table reports median monthly owner costs of $1,620 for owners with a mortgage and $554 for owners without a mortgage. These Philadelphia figures do not describe any of the SafeWise top 10; they illustrate why a city’s housing measures should be compared directly rather than inferred from its safety position.

The Census Bureau notes that these are sample-based estimates and advises care when comparing ACS periods. Even within one city, a median is a summary, not a quote for a particular home. For renting, advertised rent is only one budget input; this guide to what an apartment really costs beyond advertised rent explains why recurring charges can matter to a household’s total housing cost.

Daily-life tradeoffs also resist a single score. Census QuickFacts includes commute, income, insurance, and other measures alongside housing estimates; CDC PLACES adds local health context at finer geographic levels. For a move, compare these data for the actual places under consideration, then separately verify healthcare and emergency-service access. A citywide safety rank is a screening tool, not a substitute for those checks.

Neighborhood conditions are particularly important because citywide averages combine places that may differ. Review local police or government data where available, confirm which agencies report for the area, and look at the time period and crime categories behind each figure. The supplied national sources explain why a clean comparison may be impossible when reporting coverage or boundaries differ.