Though New York City has considerably low crime for a city its size, and experienced another drop in overall crime in the past year (except in a few key categories such as homicides and robberies), the Big Apple is nowhere near the top of the list of New York State’s safest cities. However, the top five safest cities in the state are all near NYC, located in the wealthy counties of Westchester and Nassau.
New York’s safest community is Bedford, an affluent town of 18,000 in Westchester County. Bedford recorded just 4 violent crimes in 2018, resulting in a violent crime rate of 0.22 offenses per 1,000.
#2 Floral Park lies just outside the border of the Queens Borough of New York City in Nassau County, Long Island. The village is a peaceful and safe place to live, logging 2018 crime rates a mere fraction of national levels.
The 3rd safest city in New York is New Castle, another idyllic Westchester County town with wide lawns and historic 18th Century homes. With just one reported violent crime in 2018 and a property crime rate 13% of national levels, New Castle is a model community in terms of safety.
Long Beach (#4) is the 2nd Nassau County community in New York’s top 5. The beach community has a marginally higher rate of violent crime than other entries, perhaps due to its status as a popular tourist destination during the summer months, yet still achieved impressively low crime rates in 2018.
Violent crime is practically nonexistent in #5 Harrison: the wealthy Westchester County town logged 0 violent crimes in 2018. Harrison is kept out of the top spot solely due to its slightly higher property crime rate of 3.51 per 1,00, which is still less than 20% of the nationwide average.
New York’s Safest Cities
NY City Population Violent
crimeProperty
crimeLaw enforcement
employeesTotal crimes Crime rate per 1,000 Violent crimes per 1,000 Property crimes per 1,000 Law enforcement per 1,000
1 Bedford Town 18034 4 41 43 45 2.50 0.22 2.27 2.38
2 Floral Park Village 16131 8 46 46 54 3.35 0.50 2.85 2.85
3 New Castle Town 18197 1 53 39 54 2.97 0.05 2.91 2.14
4 Long Beach 33801 29 80 83 109 3.22 0.86 2.37 2.46
5 Harrison Town 28741 0 101 76 101 3.51 0.00 3.51 2.64
6 Tarrytown Village 11617 7 41 36 48 4.13 0.60 3.53 3.10
7 Rye 16050 6 56 37 62 3.86 0.37 3.49 2.31
8 Stony Point Town 15667 5 51 26 56 3.57 0.32 3.26 1.66
9 Kent Town 13326 1 51 24 52 3.90 0.08 3.83 1.80
10 Eastchester Town 20452 4 90 50 94 4.60 0.20 4.40 2.44
11 Lynbrook Village 19745 12 105 58 117 5.93 0.61 5.32 2.94
12 Mamaroneck Town 12336 0 75 34 75 6.08 0.00 6.08 2.76
13 Carmel Town 34382 17 132 41 149 4.33 0.49 3.84 1.19
14 Mamaroneck Village 19496 13 127 57 140 7.18 0.67 6.51 2.92
15 Scarsdale Village 18214 2 123 48 125 6.86 0.11 6.75 2.64
16 East Hampton Town 19992 11 176 92 187 9.35 0.55 8.80 4.60
17 East Fishkill Town 29623 9 136 34 145 4.89 0.30 4.59 1.15
18 Port Chester Village 29814 22 185 64 207 6.94 0.74 6.21 2.15
19 East Aurora-Aurora Town 13900 1 79 20 80 5.76 0.07 5.68 1.44
20 Warwick Town 18450 9 120 38 129 6.99 0.49 6.50 2.06
21 Ossining Village 25452 15 188 65 203 7.98 0.59 7.39 2.55
22 Rockville Centre Village 24960 20 180 64 200 8.01 0.80 7.21 2.56
23 Schodack Town 11747 11 48 11 59 5.02 0.94 4.09 0.94
24 Hyde Park Town 21046 9 91 17 100 4.75 0.43 4.32 0.81
25 Port Washington 19555 6 188 70 194 9.92 0.31 9.61 3.58
26 Dobbs Ferry Village 11182 3 93 27 96 8.59 0.27 8.32 2.41
27 New Rochelle 80340 98 666 218 764 9.51 1.22 8.29 2.71
28 Mount Pleasant Town 26506 14 206 50 220 8.30 0.53 7.77 1.89
29 Southold Town 20092 17 216 68 233 11.60 0.85 10.75 3.38
30 Lloyd Town 10510 9 75 14 84 7.99 0.86 7.14 1.33
31 Freeport Village 43597 70 422 114 492 11.29 1.61 9.68 2.61
32 Southampton Town 51231 52 523 131 575 11.22 1.02 10.21 2.56
33 Blooming Grove Town 11888 8 81 13 89 7.49 0.67 6.81 1.09
34 Peekskill 24365 50 224 60 274 11.25 2.05 9.19 2.46
35 Fallsburg Town 12207 15 109 21 124 10.16 1.23 8.93 1.72
36 Glens Falls 14403 24 150 32 174 12.08 1.67 10.41 2.22
37 Amsterdam 17737 25 201 42 226 12.74 1.41 11.33 2.37
38 Lancaster Town 37776 21 405 67 426 11.28 0.56 10.72 1.77
39 Manlius Town 24417 18 260 44 278 11.39 0.74 10.65 1.80
40 New York 8523171 46113 128051 52278 174164 20.43 5.41 15.02 6.13
41 New Paltz Town and Village 14075 20 145 24 165 11.72 1.42 10.30 1.71
42 Evans Town 16220 22 177 29 199 12.27 1.36 10.91 1.79
43 Tonawanda Town 57256 89 763 151 852 14.88 1.55 13.33 2.64
44 Dunkirk 11755 24 170 37 194 16.50 2.04 14.46 3.15
45 Cohoes 16979 46 195 39 241 14.19 2.71 11.48 2.30
46 New Windsor Town 28137 40 329 55 369 13.11 1.42 11.69 1.95
47 Beacon 14241 26 190 36 216 15.17 1.83 13.34 2.53
48 Garden City Village 22749 10 358 62 368 16.18 0.44 15.74 2.73
49 Mount Vernon 68889 351 975 269 1326 19.25 5.10 14.15 3.90
50 Hempstead Village 56059 322 589 148 911 16.25 5.74 10.51 2.64
51 Orchard Park Town 29760 28 331 42 359 12.06 0.94 11.12 1.41
52 Webster Town and Village 45023 35 361 34 396 8.80 0.78 8.02 0.76
53 Kenmore Village 15178 14 185 25 199 13.11 0.92 12.19 1.65
54 Clarkstown Town 81994 71 1209 176 1280 15.61 0.87 14.74 2.15
55 Plattsburgh City 19651 35 312 51 347 17.66 1.78 15.88 2.60
56 Saratoga Springs 28237 63 468 83 531 18.81 2.23 16.57 2.94
57 North Greenbush Town 12216 9 156 18 165 13.51 0.74 12.77 1.47
58 Riverhead Town 33812 50 603 101 653 19.31 1.48 17.83 2.99
59 Depew Village 15159 12 250 36 262 17.28 0.79 16.49 2.37
60 North Tonawanda 30325 46 400 52 446 14.71 1.52 13.19 1.71
61 Camillus Town and Village 24462 14 275 27 289 11.81 0.57 11.24 1.10
62 Oneonta City 14073 33 191 28 224 15.92 2.34 13.57 1.99
63 West Seneca Town 45721 62 628 77 690 15.09 1.36 13.74 1.68
64 Geneva 12841 31 221 36 252 19.62 2.41 17.21 2.80
65 Cortland 18631 28 316 46 344 18.46 1.50 16.96 2.47
66 Spring Valley Village 32909 120 403 59 523 15.89 3.65 12.25 1.79
67 Tonawanda 14868 27 245 35 272 18.29 1.82 16.48 2.35
68 Rome 32298 49 540 75 589 18.24 1.52 16.72 2.32
69 Bethlehem Town 35704 27 498 53 525 14.70 0.76 13.95 1.48
70 Poughkeepsie 30580 216 494 114 710 23.22 7.06 16.15 3.73
71 Ogden Town 20288 8 195 14 203 10.01 0.39 9.61 0.69
72 Lewiston Town and Village 15922 13 155 12 168 10.55 0.82 9.73 0.75
73 Amherst Town 121343 145 1766 181 1911 15.75 1.19 14.55 1.49
74 Middletown 27885 110 510 82 620 22.23 3.94 18.29 2.94
75 Ulster Town 12600 13 232 28 245 19.44 1.03 18.41 2.22
76 Lackawanna 17904 70 315 47 385 21.50 3.91 17.59 2.63
77 Kingston 23077 70 477 73 547 23.70 3.03 20.67 3.16
78 Canandaigua 10252 24 194 26 218 21.26 2.34 18.92 2.54
79 Glenville Town 21670 19 293 25 312 14.40 0.88 13.52 1.15
80 Niskayuna Town 22486 23 390 30 413 18.37 1.02 17.34 1.33
81 Brighton Town 36470 32 613 45 645 17.69 0.88 16.81 1.23
82 Wallkill Town 29123 47 541 45 588 20.19 1.61 18.58 1.55
83 Oswego City 17370 36 455 52 491 28.27 2.07 26.19 2.99
84 Vestal Town 28223 18 521 38 539 19.10 0.64 18.46 1.35
85 Hamburg Town 46490 41 888 67 929 19.98 0.88 19.10 1.44
86 Watervliet 10115 36 225 23 261 25.80 3.56 22.24 2.27
87 Guilderland Town 34260 27 687 50 714 20.84 0.79 20.05 1.46
88 Geddes Town 10177 7 215 16 222 21.81 0.69 21.13 1.57
89 Colonie Town 79842 80 1856 153 1936 24.25 1.00 23.25 1.92
90 East Greenbush Town 16331 12 404 33 416 25.47 0.73 24.74 2.02
91 Irondequoit Town 50212 91 922 60 1013 20.17 1.81 18.36 1.19
92 DeWitt Town 25268 34 584 44 618 24.46 1.35 23.11 1.74
93 Ithaca 31145 72 815 73 887 28.48 2.31 26.17 2.34
94 Corning 10643 52 244 23 296 27.81 4.89 22.93 2.16
95 Gloversville 14860 83 363 37 446 30.01 5.59 24.43 2.49
96 Newburgh 28282 329 657 94 986 34.86 11.63 23.23 3.32
97 Olean 13615 44 403 40 447 32.83 3.23 29.60 2.94
98 Batavia 14565 63 370 34 433 29.73 4.33 25.40 2.33
99 Auburn 26570 137 718 70 855 32.18 5.16 27.02 2.63
100 Albany 98322 823 3147 404 3970 40.38 8.37 32.01 4.11
101 Rochester 207701 1615 7036 863 8651 41.65 7.78 33.88 4.16
102 Syracuse 143129 1006 4420 488 5426 37.91 7.03 30.88 3.41
103 Troy 49491 283 1411 134 1694 34.23 5.72 28.51 2.71
104 Cheektowaga Town 77648 189 2156 158 2345 30.20 2.43 27.77 2.03
105 Greece Town 96650 189 2040 106 2229 23.06 1.96 21.11 1.10
106 Utica 60413 381 1914 174 2295 37.99 6.31 31.68 2.88
107 Jamestown 29384 227 817 72 1044 35.53 7.73 27.80 2.45
108 Ogdensburg 10629 32 395 31 427 40.17 3.01 37.16 2.92
109 Endicott Village 12754 70 397 30 467 36.62 5.49 31.13 2.35
110 Newburgh Town 31200 34 978 57 1012 32.44 1.09 31.35 1.83
111 Schenectady 65550 620 2106 182 2726 41.59 9.46 32.13 2.78
112 Oneida 10940 53 377 27 430 39.31 4.84 34.46 2.47
113 Buffalo 258219 2692 9852 973 12544 48.58 10.43 38.15 3.77
114 Watertown 25525 175 904 71 1079 42.27 6.86 35.42 2.78
115 Rotterdam Town 29882 37 909 44 946 31.66 1.24 30.42 1.47
116 Niagara Falls 48225 418 1962 164 2380 49.35 8.67 40.68 3.40
117 Johnson City Village 14418 63 596 42 659 45.71 4.37 41.34 2.91
118 Binghamton 44876 326 1893 146 2219 49.45 7.26 42.18 3.25
119 Gates Town 28717 56 823 35 879 30.61 1.95 28.66 1.22
120 New Hartford Town and Village 20232 5 691 24 696 34.40 0.25 34.15 1.19
Methodology
To identify the safest cities, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and cities with populations under 10,000. This left 3,381 cities (out of a total of 9,251).
There are two broad classifications of crimes: violent crimes and non-violent crimes. According to the FBI, “Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses that involve force or threat of force. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. ”
We computed the total number of crimes reported by each city by adding violent crimes and property crimes. We then created a crime rate as the number of crimes per 1,000 population. Then we transformed the total crime rate variable so that the skewness was reduced and normalized.
Data from 2,831 law enforcement agencies was then collected to determine police adequacy (TotalCrimes / Number of police employees). We consider that the smaller the police adequacy statistic is, the safer the city is. This variable was also transformed and normalized.
Finally, the two variables were combined to create a safety score for each city.
