MoneyGeek’s annual analysis of the safest and most dangerous cities in the U.S. is out. Looking at the most recent crime statistics from the FBI, MoneyGeek estimates the cost of crime in 263 cities with populations greater than 100,000 across the U.S. The analysis pairs reported crime statistics with academic research on the societal costs of different types of crimes to estimate the cost of crime for each city.
Naperville, Illinois, retained its No. 1 rank as the safest city overall ($156 per capita), while St. Louis, Missouri, also kept its rank as the most dangerous city, with the highest per capita crime ($8,457). Interestingly, 9 out of the 15 most dangerous cities were large cities, while no larger cities (population of 300,000 or more) made the overall safest list.
Sunnyvale in Northern California is the second safest city, per MoneyGeek, followed by West Covina. Jurupa Valley came in at no. 9, followed by El Monte and Rancho Cucamonga at no. 12 and 13, respectively.
Of the larger cities, San Diego was named safest among California locations, coming in at no. 6. San Jose followed at no. 9, as well as Santa Ana at no. 13.
Oakland was the most dangerous city among those tracked in California, coming in at no. 12.