5 HV Communities Ranked Among Safest Small Cities, Towns In U.S.

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Five Hudson Valley communities were named some of the safest small communities in America by personal finance website MoneyGeek.

According to MoneyGeek, it started by using research from the FBI to quantify the costs of crimes by type. It then applied that analysis to 1,061 small communities across the country — those with 30,000 to 100,000 residents — to find which were the safest.

Here are the five Hudson Valley towns/villages on the list:

• Yorktown came in at No. 6 on the list, with a crime cost per capita of $57, a violent crime rate of 20 per 100,000 residents, and a property crime rate of 675 per 100,000 residents.
• Carmel ranked No. 7 on the list, with a crime cost per capita of $64, a violent crime rate of 32 per 100,000 residents, and a property crime rate of 307 per 100,000 residents.
• Town of Wallkill came in at No. 8 on the list, with a crime cost per capita of $68, a violent crime rate of 16 per 100,000 residents, and a property crime rate of 994 per 100,000 residents.
• Town of Harrison ranked No. 16 on the list, with a crime cost per capita of $93, a violent crime rate of 23 per 100,000 residents, and a property crime rate of 643 per 100,000 residents.
• Village of Port Chester took the No. 55 on the list, with a crime cost per capita of $142, a violent crime rate of 766 per 100,000 residents, and a property crime rate of 1061 per 100,000 residents.

You can see MoneyGeek's full list of towns and detailed methodology by clicking here.

"Once again, Yorktown and Carmel have been named two of the safest towns in America!" NYS Assemblyman Matt Slater said on social media. "Congratulations to Chief Noble, Chief Hoffman and their fantastic agencies. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to protecting our communities!"

According to MoneyGeek, the average cost of crime in small cities was $1,141 per capita in 2023.

The safest small town in America, according to MoneyGeek's study, is Columbus, Indiana, which has a per capita crime cost of just $22.

"We're number 7!!, We're number 7!! That chant usually doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in a sporting competition, but when you've been selected as the seventh safest town in the US we'll take it," the Carmel Police Department posted on social media. "And it's not too shabby for the second year in a row coming in as New York's second safest town to our neighbors in the Town of Yorktown. Moving up one spot from eighth last year to seventh this year shows that the hard work and dedication of the men and women of Carmel PD never stops, but it's not just CPD. We thank the continued support of the Carmel Town Board, and our residents, merchants, and visitors for keeping Carmel among the safest towns in the country! Great work everyone! Look out Yorktown Police Department we're coming for you guys!"