Full List: America's Safest Cities
Zack O'Malley Greenburg, 10.26.09, 04:00 PM EDT

These metros have the lowest rates of violent crime, workplace deaths, fatal crashes and natural disasters.

Rank  Metro Area  MSA Population  Violent Crime  Workplace Fatality Rates  Traffic Death Rates  Natural Disaster Risk  Total 

1  Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 3,229,878  9  1  7  7  24

 
2  Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 1,549,308  24  11  4  1  40

 
3  Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 2,207,462  1  10  5  25  41

 
4  Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 4,522,858  10  5  1  28  44

 
4  Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3,344,813  3  2  8  31  44 

 
6  Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 1,596,611  6  7  11  28  52

 
7  San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1,819,198  2  8  6  38  54 

 
8  New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 19,006,798  11  15  2  27  55 

 
9  Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 2,155,137  8  27  20  2  57

 
10  Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 2,088,291  15  25  17  2  59

 
10  Denver-Aurora, CO 2,506,626  5  28  16  10  59

 
12  Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI  4,425,110  40  4  10  8  62

 
13  San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA  3,001,072  14  6  19  26  65

 
14  Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ  4,281,899  17  17  27  5  66

 
15  Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI  9,569,624  26  23  9  9  67 

 
15  Austin-Round Rock, TX  1,652,602  4  14  34  15  67

 
15  Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX  6,300,006  19  12  18  18  67

 
18  Pittsburgh, PA  2,351,192  7  37  24  2  70

 
19  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA  12,872,808  21  3  12  35  71

 
20  Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV  5,358,130  16  24  13  20  73

 
21  Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD  5,838,471  28  30  14  6  78 

 
22  San Antonio, TX  2,031,445  25  16  30  12  83 

 
23  Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA  5,376,285  20  20  32  14  86

 
24  Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA  2,109,832  22  18  15  33  88

 
25  San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA  4,274,531  29  22  3  39  93

 
26  Baltimore-Towson, MD  2,667,117  34  21  21  21  97

 
27  Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC  1,658,292  13  31  22  32  98 

 
28  Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL  2,733,761  32  9  38  22  101

 
29  Las Vegas-Paradise, NV  1,865,746  39  26  29  11  105 

 
29  Columbus, OH  1,773,120  12  36  23  34  105 

 
31  Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC  1,701,799  31  29  25  22  107 

 
32  Kansas City, MO-KS  2,002,047  27  32  33  16  108 

 
32  Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA  4,115,871  18  19  36  35  108 

 
34  St. Louis, MO-IL  2,816,710  23  39  31  16  109

 
35  Orlando-Kissimmee, FL  2,054,574  38  13  40  22  113

 
36  Indianapolis-Carmel, IN  1,715,459  30  40  26  19  115 

 
37  Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN  1,550,733  36  33  37  13  119

 
38  Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX  5,728,143  33  38  28  37  136 

 
39  Jacksonville, FL  1,313,228  37  35  39  30  141 

 
40  Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL  5,414,772  35  34  35  40  144 

Methodology

To determine our list of America's safest cities, we looked at the country's 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas across four categories of danger.

We considered violent crime rates from the FBI's 2008 uniform crime report; 2008 workplace death rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 2008 traffic death rates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and natural disaster risk, using rankings from green living site SustainLane.com.

 
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