Needham Ranked Among Safest Cities In US: Report

NEEDHAM, MA — Needham was ranked the fourteenth-safest city in the U.S. by the website Visual Capitalist. Overall, Massachusetts had a strong showing in the website's rankings with 26 of the country's safest cities.

The total crime rate in Needham is 4.2 per 1,000 residents, with a Neeham resident's chance of being a victim in a crime at 1 in 233.

Ridgefield, CT ranked as the safest city in the country with a total crime rate of 1.9 per 1,000 residents and a 1 in 510 chance of being a victim in a crime.

Four Massachusetts communities ranked among the top 10: Franklin was second; Marshfield was fourth; Arlington was fifth; and Lexington came in eighth.

The data compiled by Visual Capitalist only includes municipalities with 25,000 or more residents. Crimes included were arson, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, murder, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault.

The study found that 40 percent of the nation's safest cities are located in the Northeast. The median population of cities and towns in the top 100 safest is 32,000. The only city with more than 100,000 people on the list is Carmel, IN.

"One surprising observation from the data is that many of the safest U.S. cities are in very close proximity to some of the most dangerous," the report notes.

For example, Detroit, ranked as the sixth-most dangerous city, has several nearby communities that rank as the safest.

Read the full report at Visual Capitalist.