10 Safest Small Cities In The United States [2026]

There’s a common denominator that all safe small cities have.

They are the places where people sleep safer at night, where shootings and beatings don’t dominate the local news. The best small towns in America to raise kids, and awesome places to retire.

Because if crime is really low, everyone wants to be there.

The small cities below all share those qualities. There might be some surprises on this list, but when you look at the unbiased data with Saturday Night Science, it’s hard to argue against.

No. 1 safest small city in America

Bellefonte, PA

6,009 peopleSnackAbility 7/10

7/10

Data | Cost of living | Movers

No. 2 safest small city in America

Matawan, NJ

9,710 peopleSnackAbility 9/10

9/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 3 safest small city in America

Munroe Falls, OH

5,000 peopleSnackAbility 8/10

8/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 4 safest small city in America

Emerson, NJ

7,305 peopleSnackAbility 10/10

10/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 5 safest small city in America

St. Clairsville, OH

5,003 peopleSnackAbility 6/10

6/10

Data | Cost of living | Movers

No. 6 safest small city in America

Hawthorn Woods, IL

9,143 peopleSnackAbility 10/10

10/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 7 safest small city in America

Mount Arlington, NJ

5,935 peopleSnackAbility 9/10

9/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 8 safest small city in America

Campton Hills, IL

10,877 peopleSnackAbility 9/10

9/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 9 safest small city in America

Broadview Heights, OH

19,771 peopleSnackAbility 10/10

10/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

No. 10 safest small city in America

Pingree Grove, IL

10,914 peopleSnackAbility 9/10

9/10

Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

The receipts

Compare the top ten

Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is the United States’s statewide median.

City Population vs US

1 Bellefonte 6,009 —

2 Matawan 9,710 —

3 Munroe Falls 5,000 —

4 Emerson 7,305 —

5 St. Clairsville 5,003 —

6 Hawthorn Woods 9,143 —

7 Mount Arlington 5,935 —

8 Campton Hills 10,877 —

9 Broadview Heights 19,771 —

10 Pingree Grove 10,914 —

City Total crime /100k vs US

1 Bellefonte 0 —

2 Matawan 21 —

3 Munroe Falls 80 —

4 Emerson 96 —

5 St. Clairsville 140 —

6 Hawthorn Woods 142 —

7 Mount Arlington 152 —

8 Campton Hills 55 —

9 Broadview Heights 106 —

10 Pingree Grove 174 —

City Violent crime /100k vs US

1 Bellefonte 0 —

2 Matawan 0 —

3 Munroe Falls 0 —

4 Emerson 0 —

5 St. Clairsville 0 —

6 Hawthorn Woods 0 —

7 Mount Arlington 0 —

8 Campton Hills 9 —

9 Broadview Heights 5 —

10 Pingree Grove 9 —

City Property crime /100k vs US

1 Bellefonte 0 —

2 Matawan 21 —

3 Munroe Falls 80 —

4 Emerson 96 —

5 St. Clairsville 140 —

6 Hawthorn Woods 142 —

7 Mount Arlington 152 —

8 Campton Hills 46 —

9 Broadview Heights 101 —

10 Pingree Grove 165 —

Saturday Night Science

How We Determined The Safest Small Cities In The US

To rank the safest small towns in America, we turned to Saturday Night Science to research FBI crime data.

We defined a “small city” as a population under 50,000 and over 5,000. And then we measured the following two criteria for each of these 2,509 US cities:

We ranked each city on both criteria and averaged the rankings together to create a “Crime Index.” The city with the lowest Crime Index, Bellefonte, was named the safest small city in the United States.

Violent Crime Per Capita
Property Crime Per Capita

We updated this report for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the safest small cities in America.

The full list

Safest Small Cities In The United States

Click any column to sort. Search by city name.

Rank	City	Population	Total Crimes Per 100k	Violent Crimes Per 100k	Property Crimes Per 100k
1	Bellefonte, PA	6,009	0	0	0
2	Matawan, NJ	9,710	21	0	21
3	Munroe Falls, OH	5,000	80	0	80
4	Emerson, NJ	7,305	96	0	96
5	St. Clairsville, OH	5,003	140	0	140
6	Hawthorn Woods, IL	9,143	142	0	142
7	Mount Arlington, NJ	5,935	152	0	152
8	Campton Hills, IL	10,877	55	9	46
9	Broadview Heights, OH	19,771	106	5	101
10	Pingree Grove, IL	10,914	174	9	165
11	Frostburg, MD	6,977	115	14	100
12	Cottleville, MO	5,937	67	17	51
13	Hillsdale, NJ	10,144	266	0	266
14	Whispering Pines, NC	5,211	269	0	269
15	Evansville, WI	5,782	277	0	277
16	Turtle Creek, PA	5,007	60	20	40
17	Fox Chapel, PA	5,246	286	0	286
18	Fair Haven, NJ	6,170	194	16	178
19	Western Springs, IL	13,446	275	7	268
20	Rye, NY	16,428	262	12	250
21	Olmsted Falls, OH	8,639	313	0	313
22	Porter, IN	5,217	211	19	192
23	Brecksville, OH	13,692	321	7	314
23	Senoia, GA	5,589	250	18	233
25	St. John, IN	22,567	168	27	142
26	Homer Glen, IL	24,529	294	16	277
27	Minooka, IL	12,891	341	8	334
28	Dumont, NJ	18,279	312	16	295
29	Madeira, OH	9,484	369	0	369
30	Oconomowoc, WI	19,080	320	16	304
31	Lowell, IN	11,073	235	27	208
32	Willow Springs, IL	5,868	375	0	375
33	Avon Lake, OH	25,752	315	19	295
34	Zionsville, IN	32,095	308	22	287
35	Mayfield Heights, OH	20,022	315	20	295
35	Gulf Breeze, FL	6,660	345	15	330
37	Kinnelon, NJ	10,013	370	10	360
37	Dyer, IN	16,400	354	12	341
39	Rockaway, NJ	6,613	348	15	333
39	Mountainside, NJ	7,049	355	14	340
41	Pitman, NJ	8,856	316	23	294
42	Ringwood, NJ	11,657	214	34	180
43	Longboat Key, FL	7,539	411	0	411
44	Sandwich, IL	7,219	305	28	277
45	Eudora, KS	6,119	360	16	343
46	Church Hill, TN	7,139	308	28	280
47	Wanaque, NJ	11,206	223	36	187
48	Clarendon Hills, IL	8,659	427	0	427
49	Manhattan, IL	11,026	227	36	190
50	Gilberts, IL	8,606	256	35	221
50	Castle Shannon, PA	8,209	341	24	317
52	Trophy Club, TX	13,733	408	15	393
53	Highland Heights, OH	8,623	441	0	441
54	Spring Grove, IL	5,917	389	17	372
55	Poplar Bluff, MO	16,254	246	37	209
56	Waldwick, NJ	10,164	374	20	354
57	Brier, WA	6,545	413	15	397
58	Independence, KY	29,392	347	27	320
59	Selinsgrove, PA	5,593	286	36	250
60	Chardon, OH	5,249	457	0	457
61	Huntington Woods, MI	6,328	332	32	300
61	Aurora, OH	17,581	404	17	387
63	Tega Cay, SC	13,615	345	29	316
64	Berea, OH	18,218	390	22	368
65	Lititz, PA	9,619	457	10	447
66	Parma Heights, OH	20,581	360	29	330
67	Sioux Center, IA	8,454	130	47	83
68	Vine Grove, KY	6,830	366	29	337
69	Elm Grove, WI	6,459	480	0	480
70	Polk City, IA	6,037	348	33	315
71	Sugar Grove, IL	9,240	357	32	325
72	Tenafly, NJ	15,319	477	7	470
73	South River, NJ	16,124	149	50	99
74	Franklin Lakes, NJ	11,084	406	27	379
75	Oakland, NJ	12,768	376	31	345
76	Berkley, MI	15,149	370	33	337
77	Oradell, NJ	8,235	219	49	170
78	Bartlett, IL	40,501	410	27	383
78	Rainsville, AL	5,702	456	18	438
80	New Providence, NJ	13,727	299	44	255
81	Fulshear, TX	34,868	315	43	272
82	Cary, IL	17,923	491	11	480
83	Haddon Heights, NJ	7,516	506	0	506
84	Mount Joy, PA	8,344	431	24	407
85	Rocky River, OH	21,490	437	23	414
86	Lamar, CO	7,611	512	0	512
87	Hampshire, IL	8,524	375	35	340
87	Old Tappan, NJ	6,008	250	50	200
89	Wilmore, KY	6,057	479	17	462
90	Jamesburg, NJ	5,770	399	35	364
91	New Milford, NJ	16,995	506	12	494
92	Bergenfield, NJ	28,450	285	49	236
93	Vero Beach, FL	17,042	329	47	282
94	Kronenwetter, WI	8,395	322	48	274
95	Smithfield, UT	14,408	229	56	174
96	Millersville, PA	8,982	523	11	512
97	Sunbury, PA	9,617	291	52	239
97	Holtville, CA	5,617	409	36	374
99	Nolensville, TN	15,074	272	53	219
100	New Martinsville, WV	5,133	136	58	78

Source: FBI crime data. US cities with populations between 5,000 and 50,000.

Summary

There You Have It — The Safest Small Cities In The US

We looked at FBI crime data to find the Safest small cities in the U.S. for 2026. We analyzed each city’s violent and property crime rates per capita and combined them into a Crime Index.

The safest small cities in the United States are Bellefonte, PA, Matawan, NJ, Munroe Falls, OH, Emerson, NJ, St. Clairsville, OH, Hawthorn Woods, IL, Mount Arlington, NJ, Campton Hills, IL, Broadview Heights, OH, and Pingree Grove, IL.

Questions and answers

Safest Small Cities In America FAQs

What is the safest small city in America?

Bellefonte, PA is the safest small city in America for 2026, based on FBI crime data. Matawan and Munroe Falls are next.

What are the safest small towns in the US?

The safest small cities in America are Bellefonte, PA, Matawan, NJ, Munroe Falls, OH, Emerson, NJ, St. Clairsville, OH, Hawthorn Woods, IL, Mount Arlington, NJ, Campton Hills, IL, Broadview Heights, OH, and Pingree Grove, IL. We ranked US cities with populations between 5,000 and 50,000 on violent and property crime per capita.

What counts as a small city?

For this ranking, anywhere with between 5,000 and 50,000 residents that reports crime data to the FBI. Big-city suburbs and standalone towns both qualify.

What is the most dangerous small city on this list?

Florida City, FL posts the highest combined crime rate of the small cities we ranked. Our separate most dangerous small cities ranking covers that end of the table.

How do you measure small-city safety?

We take each city’s violent and property crimes from the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report and divide by population. The lowest combined rate, Bellefonte, comes out safest.

The 10 Safest Small Cities In The United States

Bellefonte, PA

Matawan, NJ

Munroe Falls, OH

Emerson, NJ

St. Clairsville, OH

Hawthorn Woods, IL

Mount Arlington, NJ

Campton Hills, IL

Broadview Heights, OH

Pingree Grove, IL

Compare the top ten

Where the safest small cities in America are

How We Determined The Safest Small Cities In The US

Safest Small Cities In The United States

There You Have It — The Safest Small Cities In The US

Safest Small Cities In America FAQs

What is the safest small city in America?

What are the safest small towns in the US?

What counts as a small city?

What is the most dangerous small city on this list?

How do you measure small-city safety?

More snacks.