California Tops Nation in Safest Cities Ranking

50 Safest Cities to Raise a Family in the U.S

California captured 11 slots in the safest cities for families list. A handful of other states had multiple cities with lower crime statistics than average: Texas (8), Michigan (5), Florida (5), and New Jersey (4), according to SafeWise.

New Jersey’s four cities were new to the list, along with two townships from Michigan (Shelby and Canton) and one city from Missouri (O’Fallon).

It’s worth noting these states also had their fair share of dangerous cities: California (3), Texas (4), Michigan (4), and Florida (2). So, while you may be able to find a safe city in your dream state, it’s worth looking at which cities have the lowest crime rates.

Danville
Rancho Santa Margarita
Moorpark
Aliso Viejo
Yorba Linda
Laguna Niguel
Poway
Mission Viejo
Rancho Palos Verdes
Thousand Oaks

When it comes to safety, daily concern seems to be the California state of mind. From those we surveyed, 56% of Californians feel a high daily level of concern for their safety. Californians were second in the nation for highest concern over COVID-19, third in the nation for concern over gun violence, and fifth for concern over violent crime.

Just 4 in 10 Californians say they feel safe in their state, according to the SafeWise Report. But those who are lucky enough to call the safest cities home have less to worry about.

California’s violent crime rate held steady year over year, avoiding the spike seen across most of the country. The Golden State saw 4.4 violent crime incidents per 1,000 people—exceeding the national rate of 4.0 but avoiding an increase over the previous reporting year.

California continued to see a decline in its property crime rate, falling nearly 9% from 23.4 incidents per 1,000 to 21.4. Again, California’s crime rate is higher than the national rate of 19.6, but it’s trending down year over year.

Higher-than-average levels of concern in California coincide with higher reports of personal experience with violent crime, gun violence, and package theft. Property crime was the only crime for which Californians reported less experience than the national average in the latest survey.

Reported experience with property crime was cut in half year over year, falling from 38% to 16% during our last survey period (US 18%). Experience with violent crime was two percentage points higher than the national average of 10%, and personal run-ins with package theft came in six points higher than the national average of 20%. Gun violence barely exceeded the nationwide average, with 9% of Californians reporting a personal experience (US 8%).