3 of America’s Safest Cities Can Be Found in 1 Region

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to several of the country’s safest cities, SmartAsset reports.

The financial data website recently ranked Sunnyvale, California, as the No. 1 safest city, and ranked two nearby cities among the top 10.

The website explains:

In general, cities in the Bay Area have low violent crime rates, low rates of drug use and relatively low rates of deadly traffic accidents.

In the past year alone, cities in this region, which overlaps with Silicon Valley, have also been recognized as being among the brainiest cities, skinniest cities and most healthy cities in the nation, as well as the cities with the highest rent hikes.

The Northeastern U.S. fared poorly in SmartAsset’s rankings of the safest cities, with no city in the region ranking higher than No. 29 (Yonkers, New York).

SmartAsset ranked the 200 largest U.S. cities based on six metrics:

• Violent crime rate (given double weight): The number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents.
• Vehicular mortality rate: The number of automobile accident deaths per 100,000 residents.
• Air Quality Index: A measure of air pollution calculated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Air pollution is a factor for many of the country’s most deadly medical conditions.
• Commuters driving to work alone: The percentage of the workforce that gets to work by driving alone.
• Drug poisoning mortality rate (given half weight): The number of drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 residents. Drug overdoses are the most common cause of drug poisonings.
• Population engaging in excessive drinking (given half weight): The percentage of the population that consumed more than four drinks (women) or five drinks (men) of alcohol over a 30-day period.

The 10 highest-ranked cities were:

• Sunnyvale, California
• Honolulu
• Bellevue, Washington
• Cary, North Carolina
• Alexandria, Virginia
• San Jose, California
• McAllen, Texas
• Fremont, California
• Salem, Oregon
• Frisco, Texas

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