Published April 5, 2026 · Updated annually
Safest Small Towns in America (Under 100K)
The safest small towns in America have per-capita crime rates well below the national average and consistent safety records over multiple years. Using FBI UCR data, we filtered cities with populations under 100,000 and ranked them by Safety Context Score — a composite of violent crime rate, property crime rate, and 5-year trend, all per 100,000 residents.
Top 25 Safest Small Towns
National average violent crime rate: 363.8 per 100,000. National average property crime rate: 1832.3 per 100,000.
| Rank | City | State | Population | Safety Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burlington | VT | 44,743 | 78 | B |
| 2 | Bismarck | ND | 74,112 | 74 | B |
| 3 | Edmond | OK | 99,714 | 69 | B |
| 4 | Bend | OR | 99,178 | 68 | B |
| 5 | Rapid City | SD | 77,503 | 67 | B |
| 6 | Warwick | RI | 82,823 | 66 | B |
| 7 | Tuscaloosa | AL | 99,600 | 61 | C |
| 8 | Cheyenne | WY | 65,132 | 60 | C |
| 9 | Casper | WY | 58,529 | 60 | C |
| 10 | Charleston | WV | 47,215 | 54 | C |
| 11 | Bangor | ME | 31,753 | 49 | D |
Why Small Towns Tend to Be Safer
Small towns generally have lower per-capita crime rates than large cities for several interconnected reasons:
- Social cohesion — Residents know each other, which creates informal social control and community accountability
- Economic stability — Many safe small towns are affluent suburbs, college towns, or communities with diversified local economies
- Lower density — Fewer anonymous interactions and less opportunity for certain types of crime
- Effective policing — Smaller jurisdictions often have higher officer-to-resident ratios and better community relationships
Caveats About Small Town Safety Data
Small town crime data has important limitations. With smaller populations, a single incident can significantly swing the per-capita rate. A town of 10,000 that has one homicide goes from 0 to 10 per 100,000 — above the national rate — based on a single event. Our Safety Context Score mitigates this by using 5-year averages rather than single-year snapshots.
Additionally, reporting compliance varies. Some small jurisdictions do not consistently report to the FBI, which can make their data appear artificially low. We only include cities with consistent multi-year reporting in our rankings.
Compare any small town to its state average or a larger nearby city using our full ranking page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The safest small town depends on how you define "small." Our ranking above filters for cities under 100,000 population and ranks by Safety Context Score. Check the table for the current leader based on FBI data.
On average, yes. Small towns (under 100,000) have significantly lower per-capita violent and property crime rates than cities over 250,000. However, there are exceptions — some small towns have elevated crime, and many large city neighborhoods are very safe.
Small town data is less statistically reliable than large city data because small population sizes make per-capita rates more volatile. A single crime can significantly swing the rate. We use 5-year averages and only include jurisdictions with consistent reporting to mitigate this.
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