New York State often overshadowed by the bustling metropolis of New York City, features tranquil Adirondack mountains, the agricultural richness of Finger Lakes, and some super safe towns.
Today, we will focus on the ten safest places in New York that match the resilience of the iconic Statue of Liberty.
You might wonder how New York ranks in crime on the national scene. We ranked New York as the 32nd safest state in America, but that's not the whole story. Certain towns in the Empire State are clearly safer than others.
Diving into the latest FBI Crime data, we've assessed both property crimes and violent crimes per capita to determine the safest locales. In total, we analyzed 188 cities in New York with more than 5,000 people.
Join us as we navigate the safest places in New York, each with unique appeal and charm.

0 violent / 0 property per 100k
The first, what I would call statistically typical, city on the list is Highlands -- what with it actually having some violent crime unlike the angelic cities above it.
Another city in Orange County, Highlands actually improved a couple of spots from its spot last year.
But don't be worried -- you can still get a view of the safety of the land from this vantage point, even if you aren't so high up.

0 violent / 37 property per 100k

0 violent / 146 property per 100k
0 violent / 193 property per 100k

0 violent / 207 property per 100k
Historically known for being the home of American business magnates such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Astors, Briarcliff Manor is a serene little village with virtually no crime. There were no violent crimes and only 16 property crimes committed in 2024, a property crime rate about 12 times lower than the national average. So don't worry if you get turned around at Rockefeller State Park Preserve; a stranger is more apt to help you than hurt you.
Briarcliff Manor's poverty rate is also around five times lower than the nationwide average. On the flipside, it's also quite an expensive place to call home, with the median home price being over $680,000. Not really unexpected when it's the historical home of big-name captains of industry.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

8 violent / 25 property per 100k
Lewisboro is all kinds of safe -- the safest place in New York to be exact.
Even more so, it's incredibly safe even on a national basis for a city of its size. There were a grand total of zero violent crimes here in the last reporting year, good for a tie for the best in the state and the overall best property crime rate.
Based on our research, the reason for this could be due to a lack of a downtown -- it's hard to rob a liquor store when there's no main street in town. Or, more to the point, there's not an abundance of easy targets walking around.

0 violent / 213 property per 100k
Located on the North Shore of Long Island, Kings Point provides its citizenry with safety and security normally reserved for royalty. Don't worry about your treasure getting snatched in Kings Point; according to the data, a property crime only occurs once every 33 days there. Which means there's a greater chance of a raccoon stealing your things at Kings Point Park than a person.
The catch: Kings Point is part of the Great Neck region, which ranked as the eighth most expensive place to live in New York. Hey, living like a king doesn't come cheap.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12 violent / 35 property per 100k
Chester, in Orange County, New York, stands out as the eighth safest city statewide for 2026, with a population of 8,608 fostering strong community ties. There were a remarkably low number of violent crimes, with only 1 incidents reported. The town ranks as the 17th safest against violent offenses. Property crime is equally scarce with only 3 instances, leading to a 46/100k people crime rate per person.
Chester's unique features include the historic Sugar Loaf, home to the known harness-racing horse Hambletonian 10, and diverse areas such as Camp Monroe, Glenmere Lake, and Goose Pond Mountain State Park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers

11 violent / 261 property per 100k

20 violent / 119 property per 100k
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New York's statewide median. Lower is safer.
New York statewide median: 96
New York statewide median: 1,078
New York statewide median: 0
On the map
Where the safety is in New York

Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the safest cities in New York for 2026
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in New York 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 New York.
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 0 crimes committed in Highlands, with a reported population of 9,153. That means the number of crimes per capita is 0.0, which translates into a 1 in 12000 chance of being the victim of a crime.
We only looked at New York cities that have populations of more than 5,000. This filter left us with 188 of the biggest cities in New York to rank.
We ranked each city for each criterion from 1 to 188 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 New York," with any ties going to the bigger city.
The safest city in New York, based on our criteria, is Highlands. The most dangerous city in New York? Herkimer, where residents had a 1 in 10 chance of being the victim of a crime.
This article has been update for 2026. This report marks our eleventh time ranking the safest places to live in New York. All the data comes from the FBI's Crime In The USA 2024 report.
Summary
Summary: The Safest Cities In The Empire State
Looking at the data, you can tell that Highlands is as safe as they come in New York, according to science and data.
But as most New York residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.
The safest places in New York are .
For more reading, check out:
The full plate
Where Are The Safest Cities In New York For 2026?
Click any column to sort. All 188 ranked New York cities.
| Rank | City | Population | Violent / 100k | Property / 100k | Murders / 100k | Murders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highlands, NY | 9,153 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Shawangunk, NY | 13,376 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Cornwall, NY | 9,583 | 0 | 146 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Woodstock, NY | 6,208 | 0 | 193 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Briarcliff Manor, NY | 7,249 | 0 | 206 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Lewisboro, NY | 11,836 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Kings Point, NY | 5,626 | 0 | 213 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Chester, NY | 8,608 | 11 | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Marlborough, NY | 8,826 | 11 | 260 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Elmsford, NY | 5,054 | 19 | 118 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Rye, NY | 16,094 | 12 | 254 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Scarsdale, NY | 17,602 | 5 | 340 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Cairo, NY | 6,671 | 0 | 374 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Tuckahoe, NY | 6,846 | 29 | 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Rosendale, NY | 5,665 | 17 | 264 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Whitestown, NY | 8,666 | 0 | 415 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Bedford, NY | 16,196 | 24 | 234 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Hastings-On-Hudson, NY | 8,229 | 12 | 376 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Waterford and, NY | 8,072 | 24 | 297 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Stillwater, NY | 7,936 | 12 | 403 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Bronxville, NY | 6,332 | 0 | 505 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Harrison, NY | 31,718 | 6 | 476 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Northport, NY | 7,254 | 13 | 427 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Mount Hope, NY | 6,445 | 31 | 341 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Mamaroneck, NY | 12,234 | 8 | 539 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Old Westbury, NY | 5,033 | 19 | 417 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Warwick, NY | 19,314 | 41 | 284 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | East Fishkill, NY | 29,607 | 27 | 405 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Canton, NY | 6,962 | 14 | 474 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Plattekill, NY | 10,344 | 38 | 357 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Pelham, NY | 7,084 | 42 | 324 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Goshen, NY | 8,546 | 46 | 292 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Wappingers Falls, NY | 6,027 | 0 | 680 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Rockville Centre, NY | 25,472 | 23 | 471 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Kent, NY | 12,826 | 38 | 397 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Tarrytown, NY | 11,651 | 34 | 411 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Montgomery, NY | 9,464 | 31 | 443 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Eastchester, NY | 19,936 | 20 | 566 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Brockport, NY | 7,110 | 56 | 309 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Long Beach, NY | 34,527 | 78 | 104 | 2 | 1 |
| 41 | Fishkill, NY | 20,101 | 14 | 656 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Schodack, NY | 11,318 | 70 | 282 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Croton-On-Hudson, NY | 8,100 | 12 | 703 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Rye Brook, NY | 9,708 | 20 | 659 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Irvington, NY | 6,348 | 63 | 346 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Hyde Park, NY | 21,180 | 56 | 382 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Eden, NY | 7,490 | 80 | 226 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Yorktown, NY | 34,899 | 37 | 596 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Ogden, NY | 20,082 | 39 | 562 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Saugerties, NY | 19,468 | 51 | 518 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Garden City, NY | 22,857 | 26 | 787 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Deerpark, NY | 7,349 | 81 | 353 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Stony Point, NY | 14,706 | 81 | 373 | 6 | 1 |
| 54 | Potsdam, NY | 8,421 | 23 | 950 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Lewiston and, NY | 15,616 | 44 | 659 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Crawford, NY | 9,000 | 77 | 422 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | Orangetown, NY | 41,682 | 57 | 558 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Amityville, NY | 9,615 | 10 | 1,144 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Lynbrook, NY | 19,976 | 75 | 470 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Bethlehem, NY | 34,933 | 31 | 961 | 2 | 1 |
| 61 | Larchmont, NY | 6,454 | 30 | 991 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | New Paltz and, NY | 15,926 | 56 | 671 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Camillus and, NY | 25,096 | 51 | 753 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Ramapo, NY | 110,136 | 75 | 630 | 0 | 1 |
| 65 | Lancaster, NY | 39,290 | 43 | 956 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | Southold, NY | 21,344 | 51 | 894 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 | Southampton, NY | 59,965 | 58 | 758 | 0 | 0 |
| 68 | Fallsburg, NY | 14,365 | 90 | 480 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 | Cicero, NY | 28,678 | 45 | 986 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | Pleasantville, NY | 7,177 | 83 | 613 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Webster and, NY | 45,084 | 57 | 909 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Glen Cove, NY | 27,767 | 111 | 468 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 | East Aurora-Aurora, NY | 13,841 | 79 | 664 | 0 | 0 |
| 74 | Fairport, NY | 5,318 | 112 | 451 | 0 | 0 |
| 75 | Washingtonville, NY | 5,633 | 88 | 639 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 | Oneonta City, NY | 16,232 | 80 | 733 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | Blooming Grove, NY | 12,729 | 102 | 581 | 0 | 0 |
| 78 | Wallkill, NY | 31,330 | 51 | 1,113 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 | Floral Park, NY | 15,799 | 126 | 430 | 0 | 0 |
| 80 | Hudson Falls, NY | 7,363 | 190 | 325 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Orchard Park, NY | 29,778 | 67 | 1,004 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 | Manlius, NY | 25,064 | 47 | 1,252 | 0 | 0 |
| 83 | Port Chester, NY | 30,260 | 76 | 964 | 0 | 0 |
| 84 | Beacon, NY | 15,267 | 111 | 655 | 6 | 1 |
| 85 | Baldwinsville, NY | 7,584 | 118 | 566 | 0 | 0 |
| 86 | Rensselaer City, NY | 9,343 | 53 | 1,220 | 0 | 0 |
| 87 | Monroe, NY | 9,473 | 84 | 876 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | Lloyd, NY | 11,090 | 81 | 919 | 0 | 0 |
| 89 | New Windsor, NY | 27,811 | 97 | 841 | 0 | 0 |
| 90 | Rotterdam, NY | 30,518 | 39 | 1,648 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | Glenville, NY | 22,040 | 72 | 1,143 | 4 | 1 |
| 92 | Hamburg, NY | 47,687 | 52 | 1,490 | 2 | 1 |
| 93 | Suffern, NY | 11,317 | 123 | 751 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 | North Greenbush, NY | 13,240 | 67 | 1,404 | 0 | 0 |
| 95 | Geneseo, NY | 7,776 | 64 | 1,453 | 0 | 0 |
| 96 | Evans, NY | 15,049 | 93 | 1,069 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 | Port Washington, NY | 19,888 | 125 | 809 | 0 | 0 |
| 98 | Glens Falls, NY | 14,416 | 159 | 658 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | Haverstraw, NY | 38,750 | 157 | 885 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 | Vestal, NY | 32,289 | 46 | 2,616 | 0 | 0 |
Breaking Down Crime In The Safest And Most Dangerous Cities In New York

Keep exploring