Safest Cities In America

Published on September 17, 2025
According to the FBI, in 2024, a violent crime took place every 25.9 seconds in the United States. While this statistic may seem alarmingly high, the overall number of violent crime incidents in the country is down by 4.5% compared to the previous year. Given this data, safety is understandably a major concern for many Americans. Stacker compiled a list of the safest cities in the U.S. using 2025 rankings from WalletHub.
When choosing where to settle down, crime rates are often a primary consideration. For this ranking, 150 cities and at least the two most populous cities in each state were considered. Cities were ranked on 41 metrics across three main areas: home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety. You can read more about Wallethub’s methodology here.

There tends to be a belief that crime rates in larger cities are always higher than those in smaller cities. While that may be true in some cases– crime rates in New York City, for example, are certainly higher than they are in Boise, Idaho– it’s not always an accurate statement.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation compiled a list of 13 factors that affect the number and types of crimes committed in a place. Among them are the economic stability, religious bent, and climate of a city, as well as things like family stability, youth concentration, and primary modes of transportation. This helps explain why New York City, with a population of 8.5 million and an unemployment rate of 4%, could be safer than somewhere like Akron, Ohio, with its population of 190,000 and an unemployment rate of 5.6%.

The cities that made our list tend to have more stable economies, lower rates of natural disasters, strong law enforcement agencies, cohesive criminal justice systems, and connected communities, which have been proven to act as strong deterrents against crime.

Did your city make our list? Read on to find out.

Fountain at Glendale shopping mall.
Kit Leong // Shutterstock

#25. Glendale, California

– Total safety score: 66.15
— Home and community safety rank: 5
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 150
— Financial safety rank: 137

Aerial images over residential and commercial real estate in Fremont.
NorCalStockMedia // Shutterstock

#24. Fremont, California

– Total safety score: 66.24
— Home and community safety rank: 17
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 137
— Financial safety rank: 37

Aerial view of Chula Vista.
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock

#23. Chula Vista, California

– Total safety score: 66.34
— Home and community safety rank: 20
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 39
— Financial safety rank: 104

Tourists visit Falls Park in Sioux Falls.
Steven Frame // Shutterstock

#22. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

– Total safety score: 66.71
— Home and community safety rank: 36
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 86
— Financial safety rank: 23

Aerial view of the border crossing in Laredo.
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock

#21. Laredo, Texas

– Total safety score: 66.72
— Home and community safety rank: 32
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 25
— Financial safety rank: 84

Big Spring Park in Huntsville.
Rob Hainer // Shutterstock

#20. Huntsville, Alabama

– Total safety score: 66.78
— Home and community safety rank: 27
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 63
— Financial safety rank: 50

Aerial view of Madison city downtown in summertime.
marchello74 // Shutterstock

#19. Madison, Wisconsin

– Total safety score: 66.82
— Home and community safety rank: 29
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 88
— Financial safety rank: 14

Honolulu waterfront and cityscape.
MNStudio // Shutterstock

#18. Honolulu

– Total safety score: 66.86
— Home and community safety rank: 35
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 57
— Financial safety rank: 10

Oregon-Washington Bridge in Vancouver.
Brandon Olafsson // Shutterstock

#17. Vancouver, Washington

– Total safety score: 66.88
— Home and community safety rank: 78
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 2
— Financial safety rank: 58

Mount Juneau and the city of Juneau.
Mary Swift // Shutterstock

#16. Juneau, Alaska

– Total safety score: 67.01
— Home and community safety rank: 101
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 1
— Financial safety rank: 111

Nashua City Hall aerial view.
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock

#15. Nashua, New Hampshire

– Total safety score: 67.03
— Home and community safety rank: 16
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 111
— Financial safety rank: 8

View of Missoula from Mount Sentinel.
Jon Bilous // Shutterstock

#14. Missoula, Montana

– Total safety score: 67.04
— Home and community safety rank: 55
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 8
— Financial safety rank: 59

Aerial view of Norfolk and Elizabeth River.
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

#13. Chesapeake, Virginia

– Total safety score: 67.06
— Home and community safety rank: 19
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 42
— Financial safety rank: 79

People gather around public fountain on a hot summer day at Broadway Square.
Heidi Besen // Shutterstock

#12. Fargo, North Dakota

– Total safety score: 67.15
— Home and community safety rank: 33
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 74
— Financial safety rank: 30

Afternoon light illuminates the landscape at the Irvine Orange County Great Park.
Matt Gush // Shutterstock

#11. Irvine, California

– Total safety score: 67.41
— Home and community safety rank: 4
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 127
— Financial safety rank: 121

Summer view of beach and hotels in Virginia Beach.
Sherry V Smith // Shutterstock

#10. Virginia Beach, Virginia

– Total safety score: 67.58
— Home and community safety rank: 15
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 53
— Financial safety rank: 64

Aerial Portland harbor and cityscape.
Joseph Sohm // Shutterstock

#9. Portland, Maine

– Total safety score: 67.77
— Home and community safety rank: 44
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 23
— Financial safety rank: 2

Aerial view of classic upper middle class neighborhood street with luxury single family homes.
tokar // Shutterstock

#8. Columbia, Maryland

– Total safety score: 68.08
— Home and community safety rank: 1
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 11
— Financial safety rank: 65

Aerial view of Cedar Rapids.
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock

#7. Cedar Rapids, Iowa

– Total safety score: 68.36
— Home and community safety rank: 10
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 43
— Financial safety rank: 78

View of the Apex Hudson apartment complex and the Enslaved Africans Rain Garden.
quiggyt4 // Shutterstock

#6. Yonkers, New York

– Total safety score: 68.75
— Home and community safety rank: 3
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 29
— Financial safety rank: 139

Skyline of downtown Boise.
Charles Knowles // Shutterstock

#5. Boise, Idaho

– Total safety score: 69.17
— Home and community safety rank: 26
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 46
— Financial safety rank: 19

Burlington waterfront in summer.
Erika J Mitchell // Shutterstock

#4. Burlington, Vermont

– Total safety score: 69.55
— Home and community safety rank: 38
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 6
— Financial safety rank: 7

Aerial view of Warwick Point.
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock

#3. Warwick, Rhode Island

– Total safety score: 70.33
— Home and community safety rank: 12
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 9
— Financial safety rank: 52

Aerial view of Casper at dusk.
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock

#2. Casper, Wyoming

– Total safety score: 71.51
— Home and community safety rank: 37
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 5
— Financial safety rank: 3

Scenic view in Chittenden County.
Alaina Sarvak // Shutterstock

#1. South Burlington, Vermont

– Total safety score: 74.15
— Home and community safety rank: 9
— Natural-disaster risk rank: 6
— Financial safety rank: 1

This article was written/produced by Slackr

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