Rancho Santa Margarita led the Orange County pack, landing second for several years running. Danville was named the state’s safest place to live.
“Rancho Santa Margarita topping the list of safest cities is not new. In fact, we’ve been going toe-to-toe with Danville now for several years,” Councilman Brad McGirr told The Epoch Times.
“It just shows once again our commitment as a city council to put safety first, in tandem with the excellent relationship and partnership we have with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.”
Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Yorba Linda, Laguna Niguel, and Mission Viejo also made the top 10.
Danville and Rancho Santa Margarita tied at 296 when it came to the number of property crimes, but Danville came out ahead due to its lower violent crime rate of 0.5 percent. The top 12 cities had violent crime rates under 1 per 1,000 residents.
Dana Point, listed at number 27 on the list (up 19 spots from last year) was the smallest included city, with a population of 33,779.
Aggravated assault made up over half of the violent crime incidents in the safest cities, and 22 of the 50 cities reported zero murders in 2020.
In all, there were 2,500 aggravated assault cases within all 50 cities last year.
According to a statement on its website, SafeWise compiles the list through an assessment of the most up-to-date FBI crime statistics (2019) as reported through the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting program to rank cities in each state.
It also included demographic information and the results of its proprietary State of Safety research. U.S. Census Bureau population data is used to identify the median city population and report only on cities with populations above the median.
In addition to city rankings for 2021, SafeWise conducted its third annual nationwide survey to find out what’s at the top of Americans’ safety concerns, polling more than 15,000 in the past three years. The data collected helps to compare perceptions of safety and danger with the reality of crime statistics available.
According to the report, 56 percent of Californians feel “a high daily level of concern for their safety.” COVID-19 concerns ranked Californians second in the nation, with gun and police violence coming in third.
At least 40 percent of Californians said they felt safe in their state.
Overall, Oakland, Calif. was named the least safe city in the state and was ranked No. 229 by SafeWise.
