Sammamish Named Washington's Safest City In 2022

SAMMAMISH, WA — Sammamish retained its crown as Washington's safest city for the second year as Washington kept well below the national average for violent crime in 2021, according to a new report from SafeWise.

In assembling its annual "Safest Cities" rankings, the home security website uses data from the FBI, calculated to the rate of crimes reported per 1,000 people, combined with the findings of its State of Safety survey.

In Washington, the top 20 safest cities reported four murders between them, with violent crime rates declining for a second consecutive year, down to 2.9 per 1,000 residents from three the year before. In Sammamish, which was named safest for the second consecutive year, the rate of reported violent crime was just 0.3 per 1,000 residents.

Here are the top 20 safest cities in Washington in 2022, according to SafeWise:

1. Sammamish
2. Camas
3. Snoqualmie
4. Mercer Island
5. Kenmore
6. Bainbridge Island
7. Oak Harbor
8. Maple Valley
9. Ferndale
10. Newcastle

Though Washington's overall rate of violent crimes was 28 percent lower than the national rate, its property crime rate was 39 percent higher, SafeWise found. Nationally, Washington ranked the twelfth-lowest for violent crime but the fourth-highest for property crimes. According to the website's survey, package theft was the most commonly reported crime and was four percent higher than the national average.

When it comes to the perception of crime, SafeWise said only 39 percent of Washingtonians said they felt safe in the state, tying Nevada with the second-lowest confidence in the nation. The survey also found 68 percent of Washington residents believed crime was on the rise, up from 64 percent the year before. As for policing, just 40 percent of Washingtonians surveyed said they had confidence in law enforcement's approach to crime — 16 percent lower than the national average.

>> Read more detailed takeaways for Washington on the SafeWise website.