Nassau County Safest In America; Suffolk Also In Top 25: U.S. News

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Nassau is ranked as the safest county in New York, U.S. News & World Report said in a recent report of the 25 Safest Communities in America.

The magazine measured the overall health of more than 3,000 U.S. counties.

Safety rankings in the sixth annual 2024 Healthiest Communities ranking take into consideration metrics across three key areas — crime, injuries and public safety capacity — and include individual metrics such as gun violence, violent and property crime rates, access to emergency rooms, spending on health and emergency services, and vehicle crash fatality rates.

The safety rankings are based on a 100-point scale. Counties in New York that made the top 25 were:

#1 Nassau:
Population: 1,389,160
Community type: Urban, high-performing economy
Public safety score: 100
Overall score: 83.59
Overall rank: 29

#22 Suffolk:
Population: 1,524,486
Community type: Urban, high-performing economy
Performs Best In: Vehicle crash fatality rate
Public safety score: 83.19
Overall score: 72.81
Overall rank: 173

This year, 20 of the 25 jurisdictions that scored the highest for public safety also landed among the country’s top 500 Healthiest Communities, with nine in the top 50 overall rankings.

States in the northeastern U.S. had 10 communities among the top 25 safest communities – the most of any region – with eight of those counties located in New York.

The 25 safest communities are:

1. Nassau County, New York
2. Alexandria, Virginia
3. Rockland County, New York
4. Rio Blanco County, Colorado
5. Arlington County, Virginia
6. Westchester County, New York
7. Manassas Park, Virginia
8. Putnam County, New York
9. Bergen County, New Jersey
10. Brown County, Minnesota
11. San Mateo County, California
12. Fairfax, Virginia
13. Poquoson, Virginia
14. Shelby County, Iowa
15. Eagle County, Colorado
16. Jim Hogg County, Texas
17. Richmond County, New York
18. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
19. Prince William County, Virginia
20. Queens County, New York
21. Colfax County, Nebraska
22. Suffolk County, New York
23. Morris County, New Jersey
24. Loudoun County, Virginia
25. Kings County, New York