See Where 2 MD Cities Rank Among Country's Safest In 2025

For the second year in a row, Columbia ranks eighth in the 2025 analysis of the nation's safest cities. Baltimore dropped one spot to 178th on the list.

The report comes from personal finance website WalletHub, which compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 41 key metrics. The data set ranges from traffic fatalities per capita and assaults per capita to the unemployment rate and the percentage of the population that is uninsured.

Columbia ranked eighth overall in the nation for safest cities in the U.S. with a total score of 68.02, according to the WalletHub report. The Howard County community ranked second in the nation for home and community safety, 11th in the nation for natural disaster risk and 51st in the nation for financial safety.

Safety in Columbia (1=Safest, 91=Avg.):

• Overall rank for Columbia: 8th
• 41st – Percent of households with emergency savings
• 17th – Percent of uninsured population
• 11th – Natural disaster risk level
• 40th – Foreclosure rate
• 11th – Drug abuses per capita

Historically, this is where Columbia has ranked in the nation for safest cities in the U.S., according to the WalletHub report:

• 2024 - 2nd safest
• 2023 - 2nd safest
• 2022 - No. 1 safest
• 2021 - No. 1 safest
• 2020 - No. 1 safest
• 2019 - No. 1 safest
• 2018 - No. 1 safest

Toward the bottom of the list can be found Baltimore, which dropped from 177th last year to 178th this year. Baltimore earned a score of 36.69, ranked 180th in home and community safety, 61st for natural disaster risk and 166th for financial safety.

The top five safest cities in the U.S. are:

1. Warwick, RI
2. Overland Park, KS
3. Burlington, VT
4. Juneau, AK
5. Yonkers, NY

The bottom five unsafest cities in the U.S. are:

178. Baltimore, MD
179. Detroit, MI
180. Baton Rouge, LA
181. Memphis, TN
182. New Orleans, LA

Check out the full report here.

Related:

• Safest Towns In MD Ranked From No. 1 To No. 28: Here Is The Full List
• Here's Where These 2 MD Cities Rank For Quality Of Life

• The 50 Best Places To Live In Maryland
• 7 MD Towns Ranked Among Best Places To Live By U.S. News
• Safest Towns In MD Ranked From No. 1 To No. 28: Here Is The Full List