These CA Suburbs Among Safest In U.S. In New Ranking

CALIFORNIA — A total of 47 California suburbs rank high among the 360 safest suburbs in the country, according to a new ranking of communities based on low crime and other significant safety criteria families consider when choosing a place to live.

The ranking of America’s Safest Suburbs by the financial services provider smartasset used publicly available data on violent crime, property crime and traffic deaths, as well as the number of adults reporting they drink excessively in a survey for the 2025 County Health Rankings & Roadmap, a project of the University of Wisconsin Public Health Institute.

Data from the FBI’s 2023 Uniform Crime Reporting Database and the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey were also used in the analysis.

According to the analysis, Palo Alto is the safest place to live in California. It ranks 27th nationally. The analysis shows the community of Palo Alto has a violent crime rate of 0.0053 per capita, a property crime rate 0.0376 per capita, and 6.9473 traffic deaths per 100,000 population. Also, 17.8% percent of Palo Alto residents reported that they excessively drink in a survey for the 2025 County Health Rankings

Housing costs and quality of life are often factors when people move to the suburbs, but smartasset said its report showed that people are willing to pay more to move to a neighborhood if they feel safe.

The 360 towns ranked in the report are all within 45 minutes driving distance of a major city.

In California, some of the safest cities include:

• 27. Palo Alto, California
• 37. Livermore, California
• 39. Pacifica, CA
• 41. Mountain View, California
• 49. Fullerton, California
• 59. San Mateo, California
• 69. Kingsburg, California
• 74. Reedley, California
• 83. Ojai, California
• 105. Brentwood, California
• 118. Manhattan Beach, California
• 120. Redondo Beach, California
• 121. Folsom, California
• 122. Tiburon, California
• 132. Fallbrook, California
• 140. Lodi, California
• 142. Rocklin, California
• 144. Clovis, California
• 153. Hermosa Beach, California
• 168. Sausalito, California
• 176. Poway, California
• 187. Hanford, California
• 191. Encinitas, California
• 197. Solana Beach, California
• 202. Roseville, California
• 203. Vacaville, California
• 212. Imperial Beach, California
• 223. Vista, California
• 225. West Hollywood, California
• 227. Carlsbad, California
• 237. Escondido, California
• 241. Lemoore, California
• 252. Capitola, California
• 260. Oceanside, California
• 265. Coronado, California
• 267. Chowchilla, California
• 283. Santa Cruz, California
• 294. Madera, California
• 295. Culver City, California
• 297. Wasco, California
• 310. Truckee, California
• 311. Arvin, California
• 312. Oakdale, California
• 318. Delano, California
• 330. Tehachapi, California
• 344. Marysville, California
• 345. Taft, California

The report found the top 20 safest suburbs are:

1. Lehi, Utah
2. Bethesda, Maryland
3. Great Falls, Virginia
4. Rockville, Maryland
5. Dacula, Georgia
6. Buford, Georgia
7. Layton, Utah
8. Edgewater, New Jersey
9. McKinney, Texas
10. Frisco, Texas
11. Gretna, Nebraska
12. Noblesville, Indiana
13. Fishers, Indiana
14. Highland Park, Illinois
15. Carmel, Indiana
16. Lexington, Massachusetts
17. Brownsburg, Indiana
18. Fort Lee, New Jersey
19. Spring, Texas
20. Canton, Georgia