Safe Small Towns
What makes a location safe? Job opportunities, natural features, and self-promotion can play a huge part. We are probably all concerned about the crime rates where we live, whether it’s a small town or a big city. And if we’re talking about the US, there are many cities with a high risk of violent attacks. According to the latest statistics by the FBI, violent crime in our country went up last year.
But, there ARE still a few places in the United States that boast surprisingly meager crime rates. These diverse small towns and cities have done an excellent job controlling their criminal element, allowing their residents to leave their belongings in their cars without worry and be able to walk alone at night. So, let’s look at 11 of the safest small towns and cities in the US.
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72 thoughts on “11 Small Towns And Cities In The US That Are Safe AND Charming”
MONTANA IS THE SAFEST PLACE AND BEAUTIFUL SHOULD LOOK UP FLATHEAD LAKE
These are not small town I live in a small town which is less than 20 thousand not 100 thousand or more
Excellent point and fact based.
I agree!
If 100,000 is considered a small town then I must live in the sticks. The town that I live in is probably less than 5,000 and I’d like to know what category it is in.
I wouldn’t put any of the places I thought were safe and charming here.
Cibolo, Texas, seems to be pretty safe too.
Best safest towns, why Cedar Rapids Iowa of course. Beautiful prosperous and neighborly. Wonderful!
Waddington N.Y on the St. Lawrence River is the safest and most beautiful Town in the USA
How about HAYWARD, CA?
How can any place in California be safe to live in?! The whole west coast is beautiful and used to be safe with plenty of fun things to do. Now that the Democrats have taken over, run as fast as you can from the west coast.
Actually, per capita, most of the cities in the red states have higher crime, murder rates, death by gun than the blue states. The rate of gun ownership and violence is out of control in the red states. Education is poor and corruption is horrible.
Thank you Susan — I was about to say something to the ignorant comment but what you wrote made the point so eloquently. We should all be able to talk freely in a respectful way – the party we choose to back up doesn’t mean someone on the opposite party is less important. That talk only adds fuel to the fire separating our country.
I’m in complete agreement with you on that. Unfortunately, I’m stuck here. I’m not from CA but was brought here as a kid. I can’t afford to live here and can’t afford to leave. Been here for most of my life. UGH 😖 But, I’ve never forgotten home 🏡 where I came from.
I thought that too when I seen somewhere in California was supposed to be safe!
You stated that correctly. I lived in Los Angeles for 9 years. California isn’t what it used to be and it’s a shame because the land is or was beautiful. But they opened the borders and all their sick ideologies just destroyed everything. Very sad. I left Cali in 2023. I see it’s only getting worse. There is no safe place to live anymore in California.
Any place in CA would be a mistake given the taxes, the crime, the illegals and of course the governor who is all about giving tax money away like he has no budget.
Naive…… California is fantastic…..
Regretfully you are right David R.
No, way! I’ve lived in California most of my 60 years. And CA gets worse by the day. If I were to pick a place that I would sat is both a small town and safest that I’ve seen in California it would have to be Sebastopol, CA
I would add to your list of small towns which a safe and charming, the place where i now live, Monongahela, Pa. It’s in western Pennsylvania about 27 miles from Pittsburgh. It is a lovely old town over 150 years old with wonderful homes and buildings. Mny of the families and businesses have been her for generations. It has a wonderful business district with fine shops and restaurants with places within walking distance. It has a good economy and an affordable cost of living. There is little crime here because we have a fine police department, fire department, paramedics and a fine local hospital. The buildings are well kept up and there is no slums or grafitti. People are friendly and say hello on the streets. There are other fine communities like this in the easteren and midwestern United States that should be included.
I love this. I do not live far from here…and only have passed thru or passed by… never stopped… will definitely take a better look!!! Thanks!!
Finally, a well thought out comment that explains opinion versus facts, is well written, stays on topic, shows higher level reasoning thinking and literacy. Kudos to you. You give me hope. And your town sounds lovely. I wish those areas were warmer.
Fascinating that nothing is mentioned about the cost of living in any of these towns; any place is CA is cost-prohibitive and the same is true for anything in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Doesn’t matter how safe it is if you can’t afford to live there. Just sayin’.
I wouldn’t move to California because of earthquakes.
The safest places are the farthest away from any street named “MLK Blvd”.
I’m not moving to any community that has a school named after Robert E. Lee.
I Don’t Believe It ! California , Washington State and Virginia are high crime states !
I definitely agree with you. I visited there many years ago, loved it.
So you’re telling me that there are no cute affordable quaint little town in the Upper Midwest? I’m not a believer of these town!
I live in a small town of only 2072 and everyone is friendly it’s like living in Mayberry. The town is EUREKA SPRINGS ARKANSAS, built in the 1800’s,it’s old school and no MLK street in my town. This is the place I picked to die in since I’ve been retired, 2018 people are so nice, lazy but nice.
the safest place in Florida
right now
is also the smallest place
in Florida
Harmony, Florida
or
Holopaw, Florida
Most of these towns are suburbs of larger Cities, they are not separate town’s. They still have all the problems of the bigger cities.
That’s right those are just suburbs of large cities. I consider a small town with one post office, a bank if you’re lucky enough, that’s a big one, a traffic light, and a population under 400 people. That’s where I came from, a small town where everybody knew everybody’s business,
Los Angeles is a great place to get mugged , beat up in the streets, get robbed on the bus and street, get raped while jogging, drive by shootings, smash and grab theft, car jacking, knifings, break ins, Racist unrest, fires, murder, all the crooks have guns but you can’t have one, don’t wear your jewelry it will be stolen off your body, everything is extra expensive especially gasoline and groceries and rents are absurd. Other than these few items its a great place to live.
Los Angeles and cities like it are like sardine cans stuffed until they pop the seal and spew, too many rats in a cage so they fight each other. Lot of open land, desert, etc, but it’s easier to pile rats on top of each other than to build a new town. The less affluent in those cities have the most baby rats, though they cannot afford them, so there you have it, the formula for misery.
I wanted a laughing imoge but they don’t appear here!!
Old Greenwich, CT is lovely & crime-free.
I grew up there & still visit.
No place for these types to live in Old Greenwich. Stamford, Port Chester areas easier to frequent and concentrated populations as well as illegals swamp these areas
What about Cooperstown New York??????????????
That’s on my list, too! Along with Lake Placid,NY and Middlebury, VT
Hey Pat, we highly recommend Middlebury in the fall. You’ll love the changing colors there during that period!
The best kind I found was in western PA. I was born there, and the reason the crime rate is low in these small towns is because everybody is armed, either with a pistol or two, and a pump shotgun. My Mother’s Dad had 9 pistols hidden around the house, and one guy tried to break in. He was met with a 44 Magnum. Word got out that robbers and thieves do not live long there, and the crime rate there is next to nothing. Also, people there look out for each other. Not a bad way to live.
Right on Al! I’m originally from NW PA and now live in Florida (which ranks #1 to #2 Most Free State in the US. PA is in the top 16 which is great considering having to deal with Philadelphia (which I liked by the way and lived there 12 years) But NW PA is very safe (I still own property there and visit often), maybe not parts of Erie, but that’s an exception. And the main reason for all that safety and freedom in both PA and FL? You said it. Firearms. Without them the US would have fallen decades ago. Shame that the uneducated just don’t get or understand that!
Hey Tony! Thank you so much for your feedback. We always appreciate hearing from our readers.
anyone been to connecticut shoreline towns guilford madison clinton and old saybrook are all above and more
Grew up in Chicago, retired on a small island in South East Alaska, had more of a population in my highschool class than population here. God has blessed me. No stop lights, no Walmarts, no traffic jams, and one perfect highway that runs north and south for an extra thrill of a two hour ride at 35MPH. Life on an island is an answer to my childhood prayer as we drove downtown, God, please get me out of here, and yes He did!
How about Franklin, TN ?
Abita Springs La less than 30,000 people
What about Mercer Island, near Seattle, I heard it’s full of retired Boeing Guys.
You missed one in your research. The small town of Marblehead, Ohio. Situated on the coast of Lake Erie. There is virtually no crime. It has a very small population but swells considerably in the summer months as a result of boaters, campers, cottage people, and full time summer only residents. It has a sea side vibe and is considered vacation land by most people. We have a twelve grade school (0ne building). My son graduated from there. Check it out.
Foreman, Arkansas! Adopted home of Country Western Music Artist Tracy Lawrence and the hometown of my late Father
Give me a break, why do you always pick 90percent of the towns west of the Mississippi. You must live out that way.
Try Inverness, Fl, every bit as safe as Gilbert AZ
This is not true about Gilbert. Just check out the story about the Gilbert “Goons”!!!!!
Arlington is my home town. I grew up there, went to school there, owned property there, lived in Arlington for over 30 years in different parts of every decade from the 50s through the 90s. (I now live in an adj. jurisdiction but still have family there.) A unique aspect of Arlington is that if one grew up there but no longer live there, one still consders one’s self as an Arlingtonian. Always progressive but super woke now and expensive.
dexter missouri is a small safe town. Only a few thousand people.
Hi Shirley, “small town living” sounds fantastic!
I was born in Dexter ,but my family moved to flint michigan when I was 5 ,which is no place to live anymore ,I lived in kansas city for 10 years ,then I moved to Penelton Ore which is a small town and pretty safe
detorit city
VALLEJO, CA EXCELLENT WEATHER. between San Francisco and Sacramento & next door to Napa, CA the winery city. 26 Churches of different denominations & 4 Roman Catholic church. Quiet & fresh ocean breeze.
Hey Marie! Thank you for the tip. That ocean breeze sounds fantastic right about now!
Been to Scottsdale, there’s a big Arabian Horse show there every year.
I’d love to go back. I really like Arizona. I have a cousin that moved there from the Chicago area where our family originated. Maybe I’ll go to the show again and scope out the town. I wouldn’t mind living there…no more Illinois winters. LOL
Most of the people cant afford to live there
Hi Avi. Thank you for your feedback.
Agreed!
MY SMALL TOWN IS ONLY 1200 PEOPLE AND NO CRIME
IN LAST 20 YEARS, YUTAN, NEBRASKA
I live in Elkhorn, Nebraska and have been to Yutan plenty of times. Not only does it better meet the definition of a small town, but is great that the town is so safe. For a town to be classified as a small town, it should have no more than 10,000 people and not be part of any metropolitan area. Like York, Nebraska.
By what definition is Round Rock a small city? It is massive. I on the other hand live in a sleepy burg called Pflugerville just outside of Round Rock between it and Austin whose unofficial motto is “keep Austin weird.” What is our motto? Between a rock and a weird place”.
Chandler, Arizona is safer than Gilbert and not so commercialized. Tenafly NJ is also a Safe Town as well as Idyllwild, California.
Gilbert and Scottsdale are way overcrowded and expensive, not a small town at all
How did you miss some of the lovely towns in the central part of the US, in … N. Dakota, S. Dakota (any of the 8 largest cities), Nebraska, Kansas?
What about Ferndale, CA?
It is the best small town in Northern CA!