Among the states with the lowest crime rate in the US, Maine and New Hampshire sit at the top, with Maine recording roughly 100 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024, less than a third of the national average. Idaho, Rhode Island, and Connecticut round out the leading tier, though exact ordering depends on which year of data you use and how a ranking weighs violent crime against property crime.
The Safest States Ranked
New England dominates the top of public safety rankings, but several states outside the region also perform well. Maine leads the country on violent crime. New Hampshire ranks first or second overall when violent and property crime are weighed together. Idaho has the lowest property crime rate of any state, even though its violent crime rate sits closer to the middle of the pack.
The ten states with the strongest combined records on violent and property crime:
- New Hampshire. Near the top for both low violent crime and low property crime.
- Maine. Lowest violent crime rate in the country, with property crime also well below average.
- Idaho. Lowest property crime rate nationally, though violent crime is moderate.
- Rhode Island. Strong performance in both categories despite being densely populated for its size.
- Connecticut. Violent crime rate around 150 per 100,000, placing it among the three lowest.
- West Virginia. Low property crime offsets a middling violent crime rate.
- Wyoming. Violent crime rate around 203 per 100,000, with low property crime as well.
- Massachusetts. Very low property crime, though violent crime ranks closer to the national median.
- Wisconsin. Solid middle ground in both violent and property crime.
- New Jersey. Low violent crime relative to its population density.
Vermont has historically appeared near the top of these lists but reported a violent crime rate of about 219 per 100,000 in 2024. That is still well below the national average, but notably higher than Maine or New Hampshire, and it has crept upward in recent years. Rankings shift. A state’s position depends heavily on which year’s data you use and how the ranking weights violent crime against property crime.
What Counts as a Violent or Property Crime
Crime rates are expressed as the number of reported offenses per 100,000 residents. That normalization is what makes comparisons meaningful across states of wildly different sizes.
The FBI collects the underlying numbers through its Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which has gathered counts from local law enforcement agencies since the 1920s. Agencies report in two broad buckets. Violent crime covers murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crime covers burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. A state’s overall crime rate reflects some combination of both, and different ranking systems weigh them differently. That is one reason you see conflicting “safest state” lists depending on who publishes them.
Why Two Rankings Can Disagree
Beyond how violent and property crime are weighted, three measurement issues can push the same state up or down a list.
The first is a reporting change. In January 2021, the FBI retired its old Summary Reporting System and shifted entirely to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS. Under the old system, if someone committed a murder during a robbery that also involved arson, only the murder was counted. NIBRS eliminated that hierarchy rule and allows agencies to report up to ten offenses per incident. Raw NIBRS data can therefore make crime appear higher in a given area even if nothing changed on the ground. The FBI reapplies the old hierarchy rule when publishing official trend data, but numbers you pull yourself from the Crime Data Explorer will not match pre-2021 summary data for the same jurisdiction.
The second is that reporting to the FBI is voluntary. In 2021, the first year of NIBRS-only collection, roughly 40 percent of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies failed to report. Participation has improved since, but gaps persist. If an agency in a high-crime area stops reporting for a year, that state’s overall rate drops on paper without any actual improvement in safety.
The third is unreported crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics runs the National Crime Victimization Survey, which interviews households directly about crimes they experienced whether or not they called police. The 2023 survey found that only 42 percent of robberies and 72 percent of motor vehicle thefts were reported to law enforcement that year. For sexual assault and simple theft, reporting rates are lower still. The FBI’s data only captures what people report, so the safest states on paper may still have significant unreported crime that never enters the official count.
What Low-Crime States Tend to Have in Common
States that consistently rank safest share a cluster of characteristics, though none alone is decisive.
Lower population density shows up in almost every analysis. Rural and suburban areas generate fewer reported crimes per capita than dense urban centers, partly because there are fewer opportunities for stranger-on-stranger offenses and partly because law enforcement can be more visible relative to the population.
Economic stability matters too. Areas with higher median household incomes and lower unemployment tend to report less property crime and fewer assaults. Education levels track closely with this: communities where a higher share of adults hold college degrees generally see lower crime rates, though separating cause from correlation is difficult. West Virginia and Idaho make the safest-states list despite below-average household incomes, which suggests economic factors interact with community cohesion and geographic isolation.
Age demographics also play a role. Areas with older populations tend to have lower crime rates, since most criminal offenses are committed by people between 15 and 34. Maine and New Hampshire have some of the oldest median ages in the country, which helps explain their persistently low numbers.
Looking Up Numbers for a Specific Place
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer at cde.ucr.cjis.gov is the best starting point if you want actual numbers rather than secondhand rankings. You can filter by state, year, and offense type, and the tool now includes preliminary trend data updated quarterly.
For local detail beyond what the FBI publishes, check whether your city or county police department posts annual reports or a transparency dashboard. Many departments now publish this data proactively. The Bureau of Justice Statistics at bjs.ojp.gov is worth bookmarking as well, particularly for the National Crime Victimization Survey data that captures offenses the FBI numbers miss. Between those three sources, you can build a reasonably complete picture of safety in any area you are considering for a move, a home purchase, or a business investment.