The 10 Safest Cities In Texas For 2023

The safest cities in Texas are Melissa and San Elizario for 2023.

Today, we will explore some of the safest places to live in the heart of Texas, where communities prioritize security and law enforcement plays a crucial role in ensuring residents' safety.

According to our analysis of the safest states, Texas ranks as the 40th safest state, but what are the places in Texas that are safer than the state overall.

While cities like Austin, known for its vibrant music scene and tech-driven economy, and San Antonio, steeped in history and culture, didn't make the list of the state's safest places, many of their suburbs did based on the most recent FBI crime data. In particular, the places we are highlighting had low violent and property crimes per capita due to, in part, the tireless efforts of local police and law enforcement to keep residents and visitors secure.

So the question remains: where are the safest cities in the cowboy state?


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | References

Here are the 10 safest cities to live in Texas for 2023:

  1. Melissa (Homes For Sale)
  2. San Elizario (Homes For Sale)
  3. Iowa Park (Homes For Sale)
  4. Yoakum (Homes For Sale)
  5. Fulshear (Homes For Sale)
  6. Muleshoe (Homes For Sale)
  7. Colleyville (Homes For Sale)
  8. Trophy Club (Homes For Sale)
  9. Fate (Homes For Sale)
  10. Kermit (Homes For Sale)

What city is the safest place to live in texas for 2023? According to the FBI, Melissa is the safest place to live in texas based on low crime rates per capita.

I'm sure it is no surprise to the residents of Melissa that they ranked number one. It is, however, very crowded at the top: the list of safe and comfortable places to live in texas is quite long.

So, read on to see how we crunched the numbers and how your city compared to the top ten.

For more reading on safe places to live in and around Texas, check out:

The 10 Safest Cities In Texas For 2023

Melissa, TX
Source: Public domain

Population: 20,071
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 24 (safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 318 (fourth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Melissa: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
8.5
/10

Melissa has been growing like a weed thanks in part to the huge jump in safety.

To be honest, in my eight years of ranking cities, I don't think I've ever seen such a jump before. The good people of Melissa must be doing something right.

Melissa is a city in Collin County, Texas

2. San Elizario
San Elizario, TX
Source: Flickr User bunnygoth | CC BY-ND 2.0

Population: 10,080
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 39 (eighth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 297 (third safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on San Elizario: Crime | Real Estate

Places along the U.S.-Mexico border are often portrayed by the media as violent, but San Elizario doesn't fit this stereotype at all. The city averaged just one violent crime every three months, so it's not exactly a battleground. San Elizario also had the third safest rate of property crime in the state, with a rate about eight times lower than the national average.

After a day of shopping in San Elizario's historic district, it's nice to know that nobody's going to filch your bags. Hopefully, these achievements in safety will help dispel the myth that border = dangerous.

San Elizario is a half hour southeast of El Paso.

Iowa Park, TX
Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia | GFDL

Population: 6,595
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 45 (13th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 409 (ninth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Iowa Park: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
8
/10

Iowa Park, situated in Wichita County, Texas, has evolved since its founding in 1888 from a railway hub to a secure city with impressive crime statistics. It has a rate of 45/100k people for violent crimes, which contributes to its status as the third safest place in Texas.

Property crime rates, at 409/100k people per capita, along with top rankings for violent crime, reflect the effectiveness of local law enforcement. The city's commitment to security is evident in these outcomes, offering peace of mind to its 6,595 citizens.

Yoakum, TX
Source: Wikipedia User Dana Smith | CC BY 2.0

Population: 5,958
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 50 (17th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 369 (seventh safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Yoakum: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Yoakum, located at the junction of Lavaca and DeWitt counties, is the fourth safest city in Texas, boasting a murder rate of zero and low levels of violent crime. The city's dedication to safety is apparent through its violent crime per capita rate of 50/100k people and property crime per capita rate of 369/100k people.

Emerging in the late 19th century with the development of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, Yoakum has shown steady growth and industrial development. The city's low 419/100k people crime per capita rate ranks Yoakum seventh safest in property safety and 17th safest in violent crime.

Fulshear, TX
Source: Wikipedia User Djmaschek | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 18,058
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 27 (second safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 570 (23rd safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Fulshear: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
9
/10

Fulshear made a big jump up to the #5 spot this year, considering it wasn't even in the top ten on last year's list. While Fulshear didn't take the gold medal in either violent or property crime in Texas, solid rankings in each category earned it the fifth place ranking overall. Fulshear had about six times less violent crime and four times less property crime than the statewide average. Whether you're playing disc golf or walking along the stream, you'll be totally safe at Flewellen Creek Park.

Fulshear scored a 9.5/10 on our overall snackability score with impressive ratings in education, housing, and of course, safety! Fulshear is located an hour west of Houston.

Muleshoe, TX
Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn (talk) | GFDL 1.2

Population: 5,066
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 39 (seventh safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 552 (21st safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Muleshoe: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Situated in Bailey County, the city of Muleshoe doesn't have a very impressive name, but its crime numbers are incredible. The city only had 28 property crimes over 2022, giving it the 21st safest lowest property crime rate in Texas.

Plus, nature-lovers enjoy being able to spot all sorts of unique wildlife at the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge.

As if all that wasn't reason enough to move to Muleshoe, consider that it's also one of the most affordable places in Texas, with a home price to income ratio that allows residents to save more or put their cash to other uses.

Colleyville, TX
Source: Wikipedia User IDidThisThing | CC BY-SA 3.0

Population: 25,897
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 57 (22nd safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 436 (11th safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Colleyville: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
10
/10

Colleyville is a city and suburb of Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County and it fell from atop it's perch of the safest place in Texas this year. It now stands at number six.

A small increase in property crime is to blame, but nothing to get worried about as it still has 10 on our SnackAbility Score -- putting it in the top 5% of places to live in the country.

Trophy Club, TX
Source: Public domain

Population: 13,794
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 43 (12th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 572 (24th safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Trophy Club: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
10
/10

Trophy Club is no stranger to our lists -- they always find a place somewhere on the positive rankings. It has been acknowledged multiple times by D Magazine as one of the best places to live in Dallas-Fort Worth.

This year, they rank as the eighth safest city in Texas thanks to a drop in violent crimes.

We're sure the town will add this ranking to their trophy case. Am I rite?

Fate, TX
Source: Wikipedia User Michael Barera | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 23,955
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 66 (27th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 421 (tenth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Fate: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
9
/10

Fate sounds like an ominous name, but if you're fated to live here, know that you'll be in the ninth safest spot in Texas. Fate is one of the fastest growing cities in Texas, with a population explosion of over 1,000% since 2000.

Folks just can't get enough of this Dallas suburb. It's pretty impressive that a place could grow so fast and still only record 16 violent crimes over a year. On top of that, Fate had the tenth safest lowest property crime rate in Texas over 2022.

Fate has rock-bottom poverty levels, a sub 3% unemployment rate, and your typical household rakes in around $114280 each year. The only catch is that overall cost of living in Fate is 22% higher than the Texas average.

Kermit, TX
Source: Flickr User TexasExplorer98 | CC BY 2.0

Population: 5,749
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 69 (29th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 469 (13th safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Kermit: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

We bet Kermit is hopping happy to see us list them as the tenth safest place to live in Texas.

A small city located in Winkler County, the city has the 29th safest violent and 13th safest lowest property crimes per capita of any city in Texas.

The city was named for Kermit Roosevelt after a visit by his father Theodore Roosevelt to the county.

Methodology: How we calculated the safest cities in Texas for 2023

Safest Cities in Texas Graph

While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in Texas are the safest, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's most recent crime report in Texas.

Specifically, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of property and violent crimes in each city annually. We used two criteria:

  • Violent crimes per capita (murders, assaults, rapes, armed robberies)
  • Property crimes per capita (thefts, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts)

For example, there were 69 crimes committed in Melissa, with a reported population of 20,071. That means the number of crimes per capita is 0.0034, which translates into a 1 in 290 chance of being the victim of a crime.

We only looked at Texas cities that have populations of more than 5,000. This filter left us with 366 of the biggest cities in Texas to rank.

We ranked each city for each criterion from 1 to 366 where 1 in any particular category is the safest.

Next, we averaged each place's two criteria to create a Safety Index. We crowned the place with the lowest overall Safety Score, "The Safest Place In Texas," with any ties going to the bigger city.

The safest city in Texas, based on our criteria, is Melissa. The most dangerous city in Texas? Humble, where residents had a 1 in 8 chance of being the victim of a crime.

This article has been update for 2023. This report marks our tenth time ranking the safest places to live in Texas. All the data comes from the FBI's Crime In The USA 2022 report.

Best Places To Retire In Texas

Summary: The Safest Cities In The Lone Star State

Looking at the data, you can tell that Melissa is as safe as they come in Texas, according to science and data.

But as most Texas residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.

Here's a look at the most dangerous cities in Texas according to the data:

  1. Humble
  2. Houston
  3. San Antonio
For more reading, check out:

Where Are The 10 Safest Cities In Texas For 2023?

RankCityPopulationViolent Crimes Per 100kProperty Crimes Per 100kMurders Per 100kMurders
1Melissa, TX20,0712431800
2San Elizario, TX10,0803929700
3Iowa Park, TX6,5954540900
4Yoakum, TX5,9585036900
5Fulshear, TX18,0582757000
6Muleshoe, TX5,0663955200
7Colleyville, TX25,8975743600
8Trophy Club, TX13,7944357200
9Fate, TX23,9556642100
10Kermit, TX5,7496946900
11Fairview, TX10,9174562200
12Sachse, TX31,3173569600
13Parker, TX6,1448132500
14Wylie, TX60,9105957700
15Murphy, TX21,2974269400
16Memorial Villages, TX10,9873674600
17Primera, TX5,3199416900
18Fort Stockton, TX8,4118343900
19Lavon, TX6,2777958900
20Flower Mound, TX78,1674777600
21Friendswood, TX40,8518357021
22Crystal City, TX7,1589739100
23Wolfforth, TX6,4829249300
24Venus, TX7,84310234400
25Liberty Hill, TX6,9095773800
26Lakeview, Harrison County, TX6,4906172400
27Lago Vista, TX9,6379352900
28Penitas, TX6,3489450400
29Bridge City, TX9,4957371600
30Heath, TX10,6618462800
31Leander, TX77,4577776811
32Alpine, TX5,75713817300
33Highland Village, TX15,9886883800
34Keller, TX45,0809766700
35Prosper, TX37,7527687600
36Corinth, TX22,7198378700
37West University Place, TX14,5244899100
38Hutto, TX33,89111563700
39Celina, TX24,1907888400
40Woodway, TX9,514521,06100
41Granite Shoals, TX5,13713662200
42Lakeway, TX19,267571,07900
43Wake Village, TX5,861341,24500
44Nolanville, TX6,56015259400
45Little Elm, TX55,34016047711
46Manvel, TX14,82110187700
47Gatesville, TX17,15413475700
48Allen, TX108,2189792001
49Southlake, TX30,949511,21431
50Terrell Hills, TX5,036391,270191
51Lockhart, TX15,06812680961
52Lumberton, TX14,00412184971
53Whitehouse, TX9,17511987100
54Lake Dallas, TX7,73815568400
55Fair Oaks Ranch, TX11,119801,11500
56University Park, TX24,918401,32400
57Burkburnett, TX11,05718947091
58Horizon City, TX23,72613983400
59Anna, TX23,54112389600
60Princeton, TX22,86714481300
61Midlothian, TX38,58710698952
62Gun Barrel City, TX6,55115279300
63Northlake, TX8,513821,19800
64Iowa Colony, TX11,05616270500
65Sulphur Springs, TX16,12817965100
66Mckinney, TX208,4151141,03713
67Gladewater, TX6,1741131,05200
68Everman, TX5,99315088400
69Childress, TX5,91518564200
70Roanoke, TX10,024691,31600
71Hidalgo, TX14,468621,34761
72Van Alstyne, TX6,02321551400
73Canyon, TX15,68016579700
74Bonham, TX10,41615396000
75Sealy, TX6,720591,47300
76Hewitt, TX16,29116589600
77Mansfield, TX75,993801,41700
78Fredericksburg, TX11,34815898600
79Santa Fe, TX12,80216493700
80League City, TX116,5111081,28412
81Schertz, TX43,1621431,16300
82Cedar Park, TX79,3531071,32111
83Coppell, TX42,021951,38021
84Frisco, TX218,9621021,33700
85Kerrville, TX24,69618291100
86Haltom City, TX45,4881621,020178
87Socorro, TX37,95222374073
88Sunnyvale, TX8,381831,45500
89Graham, TX8,8231581,14400
90Missouri City, TX75,3231571,18833
91Portland, TX20,7421341,31600
92Cameron, TX5,41525859000
93Helotes, TX9,263321,82400
94Cleburne, TX32,7281831,05462
95Dalhart, TX8,41024965300
96Aubrey, TX7,8731901,06600
97Hickory Creek, TX5,786861,60700
98Sugar Land, TX107,989891,61500
99Elgin, TX11,2451601,253263
100Georgetown, TX83,3711591,25722

Breaking Down Crime In The Safest And Most Dangerous Cities In Texas

Safest Cities in Texas Breakdown

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn.

Safest Cities By State

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HomeSnacks is based in Durham, NC.

We aim to deliver bite-sized pieces of infotainment about where you live.

We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine quality of life for places across the nation.

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