County rankings · computed from the data, updated daily
The safest large counties in America (100,000 people or more)
Carver County, Minnesota has the lowest violent crime rate of the 598 US counties with 100,000 or more people: 2.39 violent crimes per 1,000 residents (County Health Rankings 2024).
Violent crime rates in tiny counties swing wildly from one incident. This list holds the line at 100,000 residents, where the rate means something, and ranks by violent crime per 1,000 people from County Health Rankings 2024.
Home value and life expectancy ride alongside, because safe and affordable rarely arrive together and it helps to see where they do.
25 of 598 qualifying counties shown. Click a county for its page.
| # | County | Violent crime /1K | Median home | Life expectancy | Median income | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carver, MN | 2.39 | $493K | 82.5 | $116K | 107K |
| 2 | Howard, MD | 2.42 | $641K | 82.5 | $141K | 332K |
| 3 | Johnson, KS | 2.43 | $466K | 80.9 | $104K | 611K |
| 4 | Santa Clara, CA | 2.48 | $1652K | 84.1 | $154K | 1,917K |
| 5 | Scott, MN | 2.50 | $448K | 81.6 | $118K | 151K |
| 6 | Hamilton, IN | 2.52 | $468K | 81.0 | $115K | 350K |
| 7 | Montgomery, MD | 2.57 | $626K | 83.5 | $126K | 1,057K |
| 8 | Arlington, VA | 2.59 | $826K | 84.7 | $137K | 236K |
| 9 | Honolulu, HI | 2.60 | $851K | 82.0 | $100K | 1,010K |
| 10 | Fairfax, VA | 2.61 | $777K | 84.9 | $145K | 1,145K |
| 11 | Maui, HI | 2.61 | $997K | 82.0 | $95K | 165K |
| 12 | Westchester, NY | 2.63 | $865K | 82.1 | $115K | 998K |
| 13 | Dakota, MN | 2.63 | $400K | 81.1 | $101K | 439K |
| 14 | Bergen, NJ | 2.63 | $786K | 81.9 | $119K | 953K |
| 15 | San Mateo, CA | 2.65 | $1609K | 84.5 | $150K | 754K |
| 16 | Douglas, CO | 2.66 | $713K | 82.8 | $139K | 360K |
| 17 | Washington, MN | 2.66 | $448K | 81.5 | $111K | 269K |
| 18 | Olmsted, MN | 2.67 | $355K | 81.8 | $90K | 162K |
| 19 | Sarpy, NE | 2.69 | $359K | 80.2 | $96K | 191K |
| 20 | DuPage, IL | 2.69 | $444K | 81.6 | $107K | 931K |
| 21 | Hunterdon, NJ | 2.69 | $637K | 82.9 | $134K | 129K |
| 22 | Dallas, IA | 2.69 | $356K | 82.1 | $100K | 100K |
| 23 | Hennepin, MN | 2.70 | $395K | 79.9 | $93K | 1,271K |
| 24 | Norfolk, MA | 2.70 | $783K | 81.3 | $121K | 722K |
| 25 | Waukesha, WI | 2.70 | $507K | 80.7 | $102K | 407K |
Sources: County Health Rankings 2024 · Zillow ZHVI 2024 · Census ACS 2022. Population: Census 2023 estimates. Recomputed from the county database every day.
What the list shows
The 25 counties come from 15 states. Minnesota appears most often, with 6 of the 25. Carver, MN leads at 2.39; number 25, Waukesha, WI, sits at 2.70, a gap of 0.31 from top to bottom of the table.
Across all 598 counties over the 100,000-person floor, the median value of the ranking column (Violent Crime Rate) is 3.56. Every county on this list is below that middle.
On housing, of the 25 with a Zillow figure, 0 have a median home under $200K and 14 are at $500K or more. The cheapest is Olmsted, MN at $355K; the most expensive is Santa Clara, CA at $1652K.
How we rank
Every county with 100,000 or more residents in the Census 2023 estimate is eligible. Counties are ranked by Violent Crime Rate, lowest first, from County Health Rankings 2024. A county missing any figure in the table is left out rather than scored as zero, which is why 598 of the 3,222 places in the county database qualify. Connecticut’s planning regions are excluded because they are not counties. The table is recomputed from the database every day, so figures here can move as sources update.
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