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Many people assume that small cities and towns are safer than big cities. MoneyGeek sought to test that assumption.
Lining up the data for large and small cities, we found that small cities and towns do tend to be safer than large cities. However, the distribution of crime costs also shows a significant overlap between crime costs in large cities and smaller cities and towns. In that overlap, small and large cities may have the same per capita cost of crime.
Every State’s Safest City
Still, the data show many unsafe small cities and towns with crime levels comparable to their big-city counterparts.
For example, the per capita cost of crime in the least safe small and large cities is comparable. In Petersburg, Virginia, the least safe small city, the per capita cost of crime is $9,022, nearly as high as St. Louis, Missouri, where the per capita cost of crime is $11,574. Federal Way, Washington (pop. 97,071) has a cost of crime per capita of $1,203, comparable to New York City (pop. 8.4 million), which has a cost of crime per capita of $1,204.
While the safest places to live tend to be smaller, there is not a perfect correlation between population size and crime levels.
Here are the safest cities in every state.
Note: Data was not available for Alabama, Hawaii or Nevada.
Image Credit: Moneygeek.com.
Juneau, Alaska
Crime cost per capita: $1,931
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
Bentonville, Arkansas
Crime cost per capita: $532
Image Credit: Alfredo Carrillo / Wiki Commons.
Oro Valley, Arizona
Crime cost per capita: $126
Image Credit: Danman083 / Wiki Commons.
Rancho Santa Margarita, California
Crime cost per capita: $78
Image Credit: MattGush /iStock.
Castle Rock, Colorado
Crime cost per capita: $193
Image Credit: Robert Young / iStock.
Greenwich, Connecticut
Crime cost per capita: $69
Image Credit: stockphoto52 / iStock.
Newark, Delaware
Crime cost per capita: $376
Image Credit: Pixabay.com.
Parkland, Florida
Crime cost per capita: $62
Image Credit: MargaretW / iStock.
Milton, Georgia
Crime cost per capita: $90
Image Credit: Thomson200 / Wiki Commons.
Bettendorf, Iowa
Crime cost per capita: $240
Image Credit: felixmizioznikov / iStock.
Pocatello, Idaho
Crime cost per capita: $599
Image Credit: Jordan W. / Wikipedia Commons.
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Crime cost per capita: $22
Image Credit: YourJudge / Wiki Commons.
Westfield, Indiana
Crime cost per capita: $97
Image Credit: Gypsy Picture Show / iStock.
Leawood, Kansas
Crime cost per capita: $161
Image Credit: Ichabod / Wiki Commons.
Georgetown, Kentucky
Crime cost per capita: $384
Image Credit: alexeys / iStock.
Kenner, Louisiana
Crime cost per capita: $971
Image Credit: Infrogmation of New Orleans / Wiki Commons.
Franklin, Massachusetts
Crime cost per capita: $32
Image Credit: John Phelan / Wiki Commons.
Bowie, Maryland
Crime cost per capita: $354
Image Credit: Andrew Bossi/Wikipedia Commons.
Portland, Maine
Crime cost per capita: $358
Image Credit: Deposit Photos.
Bloomfield Township, Michigan
Crime cost per capita: $69
Image Credit: ajay_suresh / Wiki Commons.
Minnetonka, Minnesota
Crime cost per capita: $132
Image Credit: nikitsin / iStock.
Ballwin, Missouri
Crime cost per capita: $134
Image Credit: Dave Herholz / Wiki Commons.
Olive Branch, Mississippi
Crime cost per capita: $1,197
Image Credit: Wiki Commons.
Bozeman, Montana
Crime cost per capita: $548
Image Credit: DianeBentleyRaymond / istockphoto.
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
Crime cost per capita: $122
Image Credit: Alexisrael / iStock.
West Fargo, North Dakota
Crime cost per capita: $343
Image Credit: csfotoimages / istockphoto.
Kearney, Nebraska
Crime cost per capita: $676
Image Credit: allenboe / iStock.
Derry, New Hampshire
Crime cost per capita: $241
Image Credit: Magicpiano / Wiki Commons.
Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey
Crime cost per capita: $39
Image Credit: luvemakphoto / iStock.
Farmington, New Mexico
Crime cost per capita: $2,144
Image Credit: AllenS / Wiki Commons.
Carmel Town, New York
Crime cost per capita: $35
Image Credit: Wikilagata / Wiki Commons.
Upper Arlington, Ohio
Crime cost per capita: $65
Image Credit: Postdlf / Wiki Commons.
Edmond, Oklahoma
Crime cost per capita: $410
Image Credit: raksyBH / istockphoto.
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Crime cost per capita: $200
Image Credit: hapabapa / iStock.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Crime cost per capita: $6,018
Image Credit: Sean Pavone / istockphoto.
South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Crime cost per capita: $104
Image Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel / Wiki Commons.
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Crime cost per capita: $210
Image Credit: Wiki Commons.
Rapid City, South Dakota
Crime cost per capita: $3,179
Image Credit: James_Gabbert/istockphoto.
Brentwood, Tennessee
Crime cost per capita: $101
Image Credit: Concord715 / Wiki Commons.
Southlake, Texas
Crime cost per capita: $89
Image Credit: Wiki Commons.
Lone Peak, Utah
Crime cost per capita: $74
Image Credit: Derrellwilliams / Wiki Commons.
Blacksburg, Virginia
Crime cost per capita: $159
Image Credit: Smash the Iron Cage / Wiki Commons.
Burlington, Vermont
Crime cost per capita: $906
Image Credit: Pixabay.com.
Sammamish, Washington
Crime cost per capita: $238
Image Credit: dmitriko / iStock.
New Berlin, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Wisconsin
Crime cost per capita: $175
Image Credit: istockphoto.
Morgantown, West Virginia
Crime cost per capita: $356
Image Credit: BackyardProduction / istockphoto.
Casper, Wyoming
Crime cost per capita: $926
Image Credit: Andrew Farkas / iStock.
Methodology
To rank the safest small cities and towns in the United States, MoneyGeek started with standardized crime statistics reported to the FBI. To determine crime rates per 100,000 people, population data accessed from the FBI was added to the analysis. For purposes of this analysis, MoneyGeek focused on cities with a population between 30,000 and 100,000 residents.
MoneyGeek relied on research by professors Kathryn McCollister and Michael French of the University of Miami and Hai Fang of the University of Colorado Denver to determine the cost of crime to society. Their findings were integrated into the broader data set to better understand the societal cost of crime within individual cities.
This article originally appeared on MoneyGeek.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
Claire is a student turned financial enthusiast who has a passion for helping others. Her goal is to help as many people reach financial independence and early retirement as possible. When Claire isn't working on her blog, you can find her buried in a good book, testing recipes in the kitchen, or outside playing with her ducks.