The Safest Cities In The U.S. For 2026, According To A MoneyGeek Report

A new MoneyGeek report, Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in America by Cost of Crime, ranks the safest cities in the U.S., including the safest big cities, as well as the most dangerous cities in America—and the results might surprise you. New York City (pictured here) has the highest total annual cost of crime in the country, but it’s not one of the most dangerous.gettyLooking for the safest cities in the U.S.? MoneyGeek has released its annual report on the safest cities in America. The report analyzes the latest FBI city-level crime data alongside the economic costs associated with crime to rank 315 cities across the country, including a look at the safest big cities in the U.S. I’ve been covering MoneyGeek’s annual safety report since 2022, and its approach is different from many other reports of the safest cities in the U.S. Rather than focusing solely on crime rates, MoneyGeek attempts to quantify the broader impact of crime by translating violent and property crimes into an estimated societal cost. The result offers another way to compare safety across cities of different sizes. You can see how the results have changed in my coverage from 2023, 2024 and 2025.To determine the 2026 results, MoneyGeek evaluated 315 cities with populations over 100,000, using the latest available FBI city-level crime data, which covers crimes reported in 2024. The analysis considered violent crimes including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, as well as property crimes such as burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.MoneyGeek then combined those figures with published research assigning an estimated societal cost to different types of crime. Those costs include direct expenses such as medical care, property loss, criminal justice and lost productivity, as well as harder-to-quantify impacts such as pain, suffering and reduced quality of life. The estimates have been adjusted to 2026 dollars.The result is a crime cost per capita that accounts not only for how frequently crimes occur, but also for their severity. According to the research MoneyGeek uses, one murder carries the same estimated societal cost as 84 aggravated assaults.According to Nathan Paulus, senior director of content and SEO at MoneyGeek, that distinction can produce some surprising results. “Most crime is property crime. Most of the cost of crime isn’t, and that’s why some of the safest cities on this list have property crime rates you’d expect from a much rougher place,” Paulus told me in an interview.Bellevue, Washington, is a good example. It ranks No. 29 out of 315 cities on the list, despite having a higher property crime rate than 223 cities that rank below it, including New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.For travelers, the findings offer another data point when researching a destination, and Paulus says it’s worth looking beyond a city’s overall ranking. “A murder and a stolen bicycle both count as one crime in a crime rate, which is why cost tells you more than the rate alone,” he says. “If you’re traveling, skip the ranking and read the property crime column instead: that’s the crime you’re most likely to meet, and it moves independently of a city’s overall rank.”For people considering where to live, the report can also help put the broader financial implications of crime into context, since crime can affect everything from property values and insurance costs to local government spending.Carmel, Indiana, ranks as the safest city in the U.S. for 2026 in MoneyGeek’s annual report.gettyThe Safest City In The U.S.For 2026, Carmel, Indiana, leads the list as the safest city in America. Located just north of Indianapolis, Carmel has an estimated crime cost of just $186 per resident, the lowest of all 315 cities analyzed in the report.What puts Carmel at the top is its exceptionally low level of violent crime. “Carmel has the lowest violent crime rate of any city in the ranking, and violent crime is what this method weights most heavily. It didn’t need the lowest property crime rate to finish first, and it doesn’t have one,” says Paulus.Carmel has a violent crime rate of 66 incidents per 100,000 residents, the lowest in the study. Its property crime rate is 813 per 100,000 residents, demonstrating the distinction between simply counting crimes and MoneyGeek’s approach of factoring in their estimated societal costs.Carmel is followed by Allen, Texas, which ranks second with an estimated crime cost of $277 per resident. Ramapo Town, New York—last year’s safest city in America—comes in third at $285 per resident, followed by Fishers, Indiana ($310) and Amherst Town, New York ($324).Carmel isn’t entirely new to the top of MoneyGeek’s rankings. It ranked fourth in the 2023 edition of the report. But there’s also an important caveat when comparing results from year to year: The universe of cities included in the analysis can change depending on the availability of FBI crime data.“Some of the movement between editions is the field changing rather than the cities changing. We added cities that couldn’t be ranked before because their crime reporting was incomplete,” says Paulus.This year, MoneyGeek evaluated 315 cities, compared with 292 in last year’s report.Irvine, California, ranks as the safest big city in the U.S. in MoneyGeek’s 2026 report.gettyThe Safest Large Cities In The U.S.MoneyGeek’s report also ranks the safest large cities in the U.S., looking specifically at cities with populations over 300,000. This part of the report is particularly interesting because it allows for a more apples-to-apples comparison among major American cities.For the third year in a row, Irvine, California, ranks as the safest large city in America. With an estimated crime cost of $447 per resident, Irvine also ranks No. 19 among all 315 cities in the study. “Irvine has been the safest large city three editions running now, not just this one. It gets there on violent crime: No city its size in the ranking has a lower rate,” says Paulus.Irvine has a violent crime rate of just 84 incidents per 100,000 residents. Coming in No. 2 on the large cities list is Virginia Beach, Virginia, with an estimated crime cost of $645 per resident. Honolulu, Hawaii ($664), Henderson, Nevada ($924) and El Paso, Texas ($951) round out the five safest large cities in the U.S.Honolulu is also notable for another reason: With more than 900,000 residents, it is one of the largest cities in the analysis, yet its estimated crime cost per capita remains among the lowest in the country.Another interesting comparison is Henderson and nearby Las Vegas. Henderson ranks No. 95 overall, with an estimated crime cost of $924 per resident, while Las Vegas ranks No. 179, at $1,819 per resident.Birmingham, Alabama, ranks at the bottom of MoneyGeek’s 2026 list of the safest cities in the U.S., with the highest crime cost per capita among the 315 cities analyzed.gettySafety: Why Crime Costs MatterOne of the most revealing aspects of MoneyGeek’s report is what happens at the other end of the rankings. Because the methodology weighs crimes according to their estimated societal costs, a city doesn’t necessarily need to have the highest overall crime rate to have one of the highest costs of crime.Birmingham, Alabama—the lowest ranking city in the report—illustrates this point. It has the highest estimated crime cost in this year’s analysis, at $10,152 per resident, followed closely by Memphis, Tennessee, at $10,074.“Birmingham doesn’t have the most crime in this ranking. It has the deadliest crime, and at the bottom of a list like this, that’s what decides the order,” says Paulus.The numbers help explain why. Memphis reported 6.3 times as many violent offenses and 5.4 times as many property offenses as Birmingham. But Birmingham reported 115 murders compared with 249 in Memphis, despite having roughly one-third of Memphis’s population. That gives Birmingham a homicide rate about 45% higher than Memphis.And because homicide carries such a high estimated societal cost in MoneyGeek’s methodology, it has an outsized effect on Birmingham’s results. Homicide accounts for about 79% of Birmingham’s estimated crime cost, roughly $8,000 of its $10,152 per-resident total. In Memphis, homicide accounts for about 56% of the estimated cost.The report also shows why total crime cost can be misleading when comparing cities of dramatically different sizes. New York City has the highest overall annual cost of crime in the country at approximately $13.9 billion, but on a per-capita basis, it’s not the most dangerous: New York City ranks No. 166 out of 315 cities.That distinction gets back to the premise behind MoneyGeek’s methodology: The number of crimes alone doesn’t necessarily capture their impact. Looking at cost per resident makes it possible to compare cities of different sizes while also accounting for the severity of the crimes taking place.Read on for the 15 safest cities in the U.S. and the 10 safest big cities in the U.S. In MoneyGeek’s original report, “Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in America by Cost of Crime,” you can see the ranking of all 315 cities, including the lowest-ranking cities in the U.S.Carmel, Indiana, ranks as the safest city in the U.S. for 2026, according to MoneyGeek’s annual report. Pictured here: the Monon Trail near the Arts and Design District.gettyRanked: The 15 Safest Cities in the U.S. for 2026Carmel, IndianaAllen, TexasRamapo Town, New YorkFishers, IndianaAmherst Town, New York Naperville, IllinoisSugar Land, TexasTemecula, CaliforniaGilbert, ArizonaCentennial, ColoradoChandler, ArizonaCary, North CarolinaGoodyear, ArizonaMeridian, IdahoCarrollton, TexasIrvine, California, ranks as the safest big city in the U.S. for 2026, according to MoneyGeek’s annual report. Pictured here: the green hills around the city.gettyRanked: The 10 Safest Big Cities in the U.S. for 2026Irvine, CaliforniaVirginia Beach, VirginiaHonolulu, HawaiiHenderson, NevadaEl Paso, TexasSan Diego, CaliforniaLexington, KentuckyMesa, ArizonaOmaha, Nebraska Boston, MassachusettsMORE FROM FORBES:ForbesThe Best Countries To Live In The World In 2026—Rated By Expats In InterNations ReportBy Laura Begley BloomForbesThe 36 Best Places For Solo Female Travel, Chosen By ExpertsBy Laura Begley BloomForbesThe 10 Best Beaches In The U.S. In 2026—According To Dr. BeachBy Laura Begley Bloom