There are two questions everyone asks when they are looking to move to an area — how much does it cost and is it safe? We’re here to focus the second question with the most recent dataset distributed by the FBI.
But there’s a twist.
We aren’t going hyperlocal with this analysis, we’re using Saturday Night Science to look at the safest of the safest. These are the safest place to live in each state, some of the best towns America has to offer.
While all the towns in our analysis today are the safest in their respective state, there are some towns that are so safe they have a halo over the rest.
The cities that made our top ten list know the benefits of feeling comfortable in your surroundings.
With so many amazingly safe U.S. cities to choose from, the job of deciding the Safest of the Safest U.S. Cities for 2026 had to be left to the numbers.
Want to know the safest of the safest city in your state, take a look below to see where you can rest your head at night without a worry in the world.
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Table Of Contents: Table | Methodology | Summary
Safest City In Each State For 2026
How We Determined The Safest Cities In Each State
The FBI releases detailed breakdowns of where crimes occurred across America. We used the most recent available data to perform the analysis for this study. Specifically, we used the Crime In The US Report.
The report has data on 8987 cities and towns across America. However, we only wanted to consider places with at least 10,000 people, you know, cities.
That left us with a set of 3511 cities in America to rank using the following criteria:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
We ranked all the cities from 1 to 3511 for both of the criteria with the safest cities being ranked 1. We then took the average of the two rankings to create a safety score.
Finally, we took the city in each state with the highest safety score to create the map.
It’s important to note that this methodology does not determine the safest cities in America. For example, Palatine, IL is the 10th safest city in America by this criteria but doesn’t appear on the list because Wheaton, IL ranks higher and — much like the Hunger Games — there can be only one winner for a state.
That said, nine of the ten safest places in America appear on this list, including the big guns (or should I safety nets?) at the top — Ohio and Illinois.
Continue to learn more about the safest of safes, or jump to the end for a table with all states.
Summary: Wrapping It Up In A Giant Safety Blanket
There you have it — the safest of the safe cities in America. These are the places where crime is at historic lows and people sleep safe and sound.
Now if only the real estate prices would come down we could all afford to live in there.
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