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America's 10 Safest Cities

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on December 20, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Choosing a place to live is one of the most important decisions a family can make. Should you consider a city's crime statistics and traffic fatality rates before settling down? It's definitely something worth considering.

In that vein, Forbes has recently released its list of safest cities in America. Did your city make the cut? The top 10 are listed below:

  • Plano, Texas
  • Henderson, Nevada
  • Honolulu, Hawaii
  • Santa Ana, California
  • Lincoln, Nebraska
  • San Jose, California
  • Mesa, Arizona
  • Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • Aurora, Colorado
  • New York, New York

Forbes came up with this list by analyzing two factors: violent crime and traffic fatality rates. Only cities with populations of more than 250,000 were considered. The list of contenders was further whittled down as the magazine only looked to cities that submitted complete violent crime reports to the FBI. The top 10 were ultimately culled out of a list of 72 cities.

Wealth was a common factor amongst the safest cities. Plano, ranked first, has a median household income of $79,234. This figure is 60% higher than the national average.

If your city didn't make the Forbes list, don't fret. It doesn't necessarily mean your neighborhood is unsafe. People concerned about crime might want to consider looking up local crime statistics using sites like CrimeReports.com. The site contains crime data from a large number of different jurisdictions.

Parents might also want to check with their state's sex offender registry. Many states provide searchable databases that provide information about registered offenders in their neighborhood.

Even if you don't live in one of Forbes' "Safest Cities," it wouldn't hurt to be more knowledgeable about your city's crime statistics.

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