For a second year in a row, Frisco ranks No. 1 safest city in America, according to data from SmartAsset, a financial technology company.
Violent crime, property crime, traffic deaths, drug poisoning deaths and excessive alcohol use are things considered, which put McKinney at No. 2 and Plano at No. 5 out of the 200 cities in the study.
Rounding out the top five, McAllen at No. 3 and Santa Clarita, Calif., at No. 4. According to the study, all four Texas cities in the top five have violent crime rates lower than 90% of the other cities considered in the study.
Using FBI data from 2021 supplemented by NeighborhoodScout.com, the study found Frisco had the fourth lowest violent crime rate in the nation. Frisco also had the fourth lowest drug poisoning deaths and the sixth lowest property crime rate.
Neighboring McKinney had the fifth lowest property crime rate and the 10th lowest violent crime rate among the 200 cities evaluated. McKinney and Plano are both tied with Frisco for fourth lowest drug poisoning mortality rate.
Other Texas cities in the top 15 are Laredo at No. 7, and El Paso at No. 12.
SmartAsset also listed which of the safest cities were the most affordable by using a home affordability metric — median annual housing costs as a percentage of median household income.
Frisco is the only city to rank in the top five for both safety and affordability, according to the study.
Arlington ranked No. 51, Fort Worth was listed at No. 52 while Dallas was further down the list at No. 130. The two cities in last place for safety are both in Louisiana — New Orleans at No. 199 and Baton Rouge in last place.
