Safest Cities in America 2026

200 U.S. cities ranked by Community Safety Score — a composite of health outcomes, economic stability, and healthcare access from CDC PLACES, Census Bureau, and CMS data.

2,001 cities evaluated Population 25,000+ CDC PLACES 2023 + Census ACS 2022
78.6
Highest Score
Highlands Ranch, CO
Massachusetts
Most Cities in Top 50
26 cities
6.2%
Avg Poverty Rate
Top 50 cities
25.3%
Avg Obesity Rate
Top 50 cities

Safest Cities Ranked Top 200

1 Highlands Ranch, CO
78.6
2 Castle Rock, CO
78.6
3 Parker, CO
78.6
4 Leesburg, VA
78.1
5 Ashburn, VA
78.1
6 Sterling, VA
78.1
7 Columbia, MD
77.8
8 Ellicott City, MD
77.8
9 Hanover, MD
77.8
10 West Elkridge, MD
77.8
11 Arlington, VA
77.3
12 Carmel, IN
77.3
13 Fishers, IN
77.3
14 Noblesville, IN
77.3
15 Westfield, IN
77.3
16 Quincy, MA
77.1
17 Centreville, VA
77.1
18 Brookline, MA
77.1
19 Reston, VA
77.1
20 Weymouth, MA
77.1
21 McLean, VA
77.1
22 Burke, VA
77.1
23 Annandale, VA
77.1
24 Braintree, MA
77.1
25 Oakton, VA
77.1
26 Oak Hill, VA
77.1
27 Randolph, MA
77.1
28 Franklin, MA
77.1
29 Springfield, VA
77.1
30 West Falls Church, VA
77.1
31 Needham, MA
77.1
32 Norwood, MA
77.1
33 Wellesley, MA
77.1
34 Milton, MA
77.1
35 Stoughton, MA
77.1
36 Lowell, MA
77.0
37 Cambridge, MA
77.0
38 Newton, MA
77.0
39 Somerville, MA
77.0
40 Framingham, MA
77.0
41 Framingham Center, MA
77.0
42 Waltham, MA
77.0
43 Malden, MA
77.0
44 Medford, MA
77.0
45 Everett, MA
77.0
46 Arlington, MA
77.0
47 Billerica, MA
77.0
48 Marlborough, MA
77.0
49 Woburn, MA
77.0
50 Chelmsford, MA
77.0
51 Natick, MA
77.0
52 Watertown, MA
77.0
53 Lexington, MA
77.0
54 Tewksbury, MA
77.0
55 Dracut, MA
77.0
56 Melrose, MA
77.0
57 San Jose, CA
76.9
58 Sunnyvale, CA
76.9
59 Santa Clara, CA
76.9
60 Mountain View, CA
76.9
61 Milpitas, CA
76.9
62 Palo Alto, CA
76.9
63 Cupertino, CA
76.9
64 Gilroy, CA
76.9
65 Morgan Hill, CA
76.9
66 Campbell, CA
76.9
67 Saratoga, CA
76.9
68 Los Gatos, CA
76.9
69 Los Altos, CA
76.9
70 Broomfield, CO
76.8
71 Delaware, OH
76.8
72 Daly City, CA
76.7
73 San Mateo, CA
76.7
74 Redwood City, CA
76.7
75 Franklin, TN
76.7
76 South San Francisco, CA
76.7
77 Parsippany, NJ
76.7
78 San Bruno, CA
76.7
79 Brentwood, TN
76.7
80 Pacifica, CA
76.7
81 Foster City, CA
76.7
82 Menlo Park, CA
76.7
83 Brentwood Estates, TN
76.7
84 Burlingame, CA
76.7
85 San Carlos, CA
76.7
86 East Palo Alto, CA
76.7
87 Belmont, CA
76.7
88 Randolph, NJ
76.7
89 Hempstead, NY
76.4
90 Levittown, NY
76.4
91 Bridgewater, NJ
76.4
92 Freeport, NY
76.4
93 Hicksville, NY
76.4
94 Hillsborough, NJ
76.4
95 East Meadow, NY
76.4
96 Valley Stream, NY
76.4
97 Long Beach, NY
76.4
98 Elmont, NY
76.4
99 Oceanside, NY
76.4
100 Franklin Square, NY
76.4
101 Glen Cove, NY
76.4
102 Plainview, NY
76.4
103 Derry Village, NH
76.3
104 Salem, NH
76.3
105 Chanhassen, MN
76.3
106 Chaska, MN
76.3
107 Overland Park, KS
76.1
108 Olathe, KS
76.1
109 Shawnee, KS
76.1
110 Lenexa, KS
76.1
111 Leawood, KS
76.1
112 Seattle, WA
76.0
113 Bellevue, WA
76.0
114 Kent, WA
76.0
115 Renton, WA
76.0
116 Federal Way, WA
76.0
117 Kirkland, WA
76.0
118 Auburn, WA
76.0
119 Woodbury, MN
76.0
120 Redmond, WA
76.0
121 Shoreline, WA
76.0
122 Sammamish, WA
76.0
123 Burien, WA
76.0
124 City of Sammamish, WA
76.0
125 Bothell, WA
76.0
126 Issaquah, WA
76.0
127 Cottage Grove, MN
76.0
128 West Lake Sammamish, WA
76.0
129 Des Moines, WA
76.0
130 East Hill-Meridian, WA
76.0
131 SeaTac, WA
76.0
132 Oakdale, MN
76.0
133 Maple Valley, WA
76.0
134 Mercer Island, WA
76.0
135 Burlington, VT
75.8
136 Zionsville, IN
75.7
137 Layton, UT
75.5
138 Bountiful, UT
75.5
139 Clearfield, UT
75.5
140 Kaysville, UT
75.5
141 Syracuse, UT
75.5
142 San Rafael, CA
75.3
143 Novato, CA
75.3
144 Waukesha, WI
75.2
145 Shakopee, MN
75.2
146 New Berlin, WI
75.2
147 Brookfield, WI
75.2
148 Menomonee Falls, WI
75.2
149 Savage, MN
75.2
150 Prior Lake, MN
75.2
151 Germantown, MD
75.1
152 Silver Spring, MD
75.1
153 Gaithersburg, MD
75.1
154 Rockville, MD
75.1
155 Bethesda, MD
75.1
156 Aspen Hill, MD
75.1
157 Wheaton, MD
75.1
158 Barnstable, MA
75.1
159 Potomac, MD
75.1
160 North Bethesda, MD
75.1
161 Olney, MD
75.1
162 Montgomery Village, MD
75.1
163 Yarmouth, MA
75.1
164 Roseville, CA
75.0
165 Rocklin, CA
75.0
166 Lincoln, CA
75.0
167 Lakewood, CO
74.9
168 Naperville, IL
74.9
169 Arvada, CO
74.9
170 Provo, UT
74.9
171 Orem, UT
74.9
172 Lehi, UT
74.9
173 Wheaton, IL
74.9
174 Downers Grove, IL
74.9
175 Middletown, CT
74.9
176 Elmhurst, IL
74.9
177 Lombard, IL
74.9
178 Carol Stream, IL
74.9
179 Pleasant Grove, UT
74.9
180 Spanish Fork, UT
74.9
181 Addison, IL
74.9
182 Glendale Heights, IL
74.9
183 Woodridge, IL
74.9
184 Ken Caryl, CO
74.9
185 Springville, UT
74.9
186 Wheat Ridge, CO
74.9
187 South Kingstown, RI
74.9
188 American Fork, UT
74.9
189 Glen Ellyn, IL
74.9
190 North Kingstown, RI
74.9
191 West Chicago, IL
74.9
192 Eagle Mountain, UT
74.9
193 Saratoga Springs, UT
74.9
194 Clifton Park, NY
74.7
195 Saratoga Springs, NY
74.7
196 Portland, ME
74.6
197 West Scarborough, ME
74.6
198 South Portland, ME
74.6
199 Bellevue, NE
74.4
200 Mechanicsville, VA
74.4

States with Most Safe Cities (Top 50) 5

26
Massachusetts
13
Virginia
4
Maryland
4
Indiana
3
Colorado

Methodology

The Community Safety Score is a composite index measuring overall community health and stability. It combines three dimensions of data from official U.S. government sources:

Component Weight Source Metrics Used
Health Outcomes 55% CDC PLACES 2023 Mental distress, physical distress, obesity, smoking, binge drinking, heart disease, stroke, diabetes
Economic Stability 30% Census ACS 2022 Poverty rate (60%), unemployment rate (40%)
Healthcare Access 15% CDC PLACES 2023 Percentage of residents lacking health insurance

How Scores Are Calculated

Each component is normalized to a 0-100 scale where higher values indicate better outcomes. For health and economic metrics, lower raw values (less distress, less poverty) produce higher scores. The final score is the weighted average of all three components.

Inclusion Criteria

  • City population of at least 25,000 (Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates)
  • At least 6 of 8 CDC PLACES health metrics available
  • Poverty and unemployment data available from Census ACS
  • 2,001 cities met all criteria out of 4,640 in the database

Important Limitations

  • No crime data: FBI crime statistics are not available at the city level in our dataset. This ranking measures community wellbeing through health and economic indicators, not crime rates.
  • Proxy measures: Research shows strong correlations between community health outcomes, economic stability, and overall safety, but this is not a direct safety measurement.
  • Data lag: CDC PLACES data is from 2023, Census ACS from 2022 (5-year estimates). Conditions may have changed.
  • Population threshold: Cities under 25,000 are excluded, which omits many small towns that may rank highly.
Data Sources

Health data from the CDC PLACES (2023 release). Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2022 5-year estimates). Hospital data from CMS Hospital Compare (2024).