A new study by the financial analytics platform SmartAsset has ranked Lehi, Utah as the safest suburb in the United States. The ranking analyzed 360 American suburbs based on key indicators such as violent crime rates, property crime, drunk driving incidents, and traffic fatalities—factors that collectively influence residents’ sense of safety. The findings were reported by The Hill.
Located just south of Salt Lake City, Lehi has a population of approximately 81,000. It stood out for having the lowest rate of excessive adult drinking—under 10%, and reported relatively low levels of violent crime and property crime.
Following Lehi, three suburbs in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area ranked among the top safest:
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Bethesda, Maryland
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Great Falls, Virginia
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Rockville, Maryland
Great Falls, in particular, earned praise for its exceptionally low crime and traffic accident rates when compared to the national average.
At the opposite end of the safety spectrum, Lumberton, North Carolina ranked last. The suburb reported 41.4 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents, the highest rate on the list. It also had the second-highest violent crime rate per capita, contributing to its bottom ranking.
Just above Lumberton was Plymouth, Massachusetts, where traffic fatalities were fewer, but the violent crime rate was double that of Lumberton, pushing it to the second-lowest spot.
A surprising inclusion was Scottsburg, Indiana, which—despite reporting zero violent crimes—still ranked among the most dangerous due to a high number of traffic-related deaths, placing it third-worst for traffic fatality rates.
To explore the complete ranking and see how all 360 suburbs compare, readers can visit SmartAsset’s official website.