See Which Alabama Cities Made the List
SAFEST CITIES IN ALABAMA
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Alabama generally has grown safer in recent years, according to a MoneyGeek analysis of FBI crime data. Violent crimes spiked in 2018 after falling in the previous two years. Property crimes have shown a similar trend, jumping in 2018 after three years of declines. In general, though, the trend is positive: Reported crimes were lower in 2018 than in 2014, even as Alabama’s population has grown.
Safest Cities in Alabama
Top Safest Cities
You can still find Mayberry in Alabama, as these peaceful towns prove. These smaller cities are the safest in the state:
- 1. VESTAVIA HILLS, ALSafety Score:96.8
- Population:34,368
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):1,266
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):87
- 2. DAPHNE, ALSafety Score:95.3
- Population:26,618
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):1,739
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):135
- 3. ALABASTER, ALSafety Score:94.9
- Population:33,501
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):1,728
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):275
Safest Large Cities
Birmingham and Mobile, the state’s two largest cities, didn't make the cut. But these three cities of more than 100,000 performed well:
- 1. TUSCALOOSA, ALSafety Score:86.4
- Population:101,764
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):4,338
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):505
- 2. MONTGOMERY, ALSafety Score:86.3
- Population:198,662
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):4,269
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):612
- 3. HUNTSVILLE, ALSafety Score:84.3
- Population:197,318
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):4,606
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):816
Safest Medium Sized Cities
Among Alabama cities with populations between 35,000 and 100,000, a few are especially docile:
- 1. AUBURN, ALSafety Score:93.4
- Population:65,585
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):2,129
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):366
- 2. PRATTVILLE, ALSafety Score:90
- Population:35,697
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):3,420
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):233
- 3. PHENIX CITY, ALSafety Score:88.2
- Population:36,668
- Property Crimes (per 100,000):3,616
- Violent Crimes (per 100,000):641
State-Wide Data
Small-town Alabama can be as safe as it gets, based on the high safety scores posted by Vestavia Hills, Daphne and Alabaster. Thanks to their low rates of property crimes and the rarity of violent crimes, the three cities rank atop MoneyGeek's ranking of the 20 safest cities in Alabama. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the large cities of Birmingham and Mobile, along with the small city of Gadsden. They rank as the least safe cities in the state, according to MoneyGeek’s analysis of FBI data.
City | Safest City Score | Population | Property Crime per 100,000 | Violent Crime per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vestavia Hills | 96.8 | 34368 | 1266 | 87 |
Daphne | 95.3 | 26618 | 1728 | 275 |
Alabaster | 94.9 | 33501 | 1728 | 275 |
Auburn | 93.4 | 65585 | 2129 | 366 |
Athens | 92 | 26177 | 2934 | 50 |
Enterprise | 91.1 | 28464 | 2842 | 466 |
Northport | 90.7 | 25353 | 3045 | 351 |
Prattville | 90 | 35697 | 3420 | 233 |
Homewood | 88.8 | 25523 | 3420 | 233 |
Phenix City | 88.2 | 36668 | 3616 | 641 |
Opelika | 87.5 | 30822 | 3939 | 545 |
Decatur | 86.9 | 54207 | 4258 | 421 |
Florence | 86.9 | 39925 | 4165 | 516 |
Tuscaloosa | 86.4 | 101764 | 4338 | 505 |
Montgomery | 86.3 | 198662 | 4269 | 612 |
Dothan | 85.8 | 68530 | 4084 | 978 |
Huntsville | 84.3 | 197318 | 4606 | 816 |
Mobile | 84.2 | 245475 | 4927 | 657 |
Gadsden | 76.6 | 35204 | 7087 | 1057 |
Birmingham | 76.3 | 210564 | 6314 | 1912 |
Rankings Methodology
To rank the safest cities, we reviewed the rates of property crime and violent crime by city in Alabama from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Database. We added the two rates to calculate an overall crime rate and then ranked the cities by the overall crime rate.
About Jeff Ostrowski
