Violent crime — murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault — is the type of crime that most directly threatens personal safety. For families, retirees, and anyone evaluating where to live, violent crime rates are typically the first metric they research. We identified the 25 counties with the lowest violent crime rates in America.
Many of these counties report violent crime rates below 10 per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of approximately 381. Some rural counties report zero violent crimes in an entire year.
Counties with the Lowest Violent Crime Rates
These 25 counties have the lowest violent crime rates in the nation:
| Rank | County | State | Violent Crime Rate | Property Crime Rate | Total Crime Rate | Safety Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale County | AL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 2 | Aleutians East Borough | AK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 3 | Dillingham Census Area | AK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 4 | Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | AK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 5 | Skagway Municipality | AK | 0 | 384 | 384 | 83.7 |
| 6 | Conejos County | CO | 0 | 291 | 291 | 87 |
| 7 | Costilla County | CO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 8 | Mineral County | CO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 9 | Sedgwick County | CO | 0 | 251 | 251 | 88.4 |
| 10 | Franklin County | FL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 11 | Glades County | FL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 12 | Gulf County | FL | 0 | 7 | 7 | 94.7 |
| 13 | Highlands County | FL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 14 | Lafayette County | FL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 15 | Liberty County | FL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 16 | Suwannee County | FL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 17 | Wakulla County | FL | 0 | 12 | 12 | 94.5 |
| 18 | Baker County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 19 | Chattahoochee County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 20 | Dade County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 21 | Dooly County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 22 | Johnson County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 23 | Miller County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 24 | Quitman County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
| 25 | Stewart County | GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97.5 |
Counties with the Highest Violent Crime Rates
For comparison, these 10 counties have the highest violent crime rates in the nation:
| Rank | County | State | Violent Crime Rate | Property Crime Rate | Safety Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin County | TX | 12510 | 50823 | 0 |
| 2 | Osage County | OK | 8969 | 44105 | 0 |
| 3 | Cass County | MO | 7370 | 25787 | 0.1 |
| 4 | Clay County | TX | 4947 | 29048 | 0.1 |
| 5 | Ogle County | IL | 4099 | 7662 | 0.4 |
| 6 | Fort Bend County | TX | 3355 | 14046 | 0.3 |
| 7 | Jones County | TX | 3118 | 13109 | 0.3 |
| 8 | Canadian County | OK | 2981 | 14540 | 0.2 |
| 9 | Christian County | MO | 2843 | 10436 | 0.4 |
| 10 | Delaware County | OH | 2365 | 16351 | 0.2 |
Important
Violent crime rates in very small counties can be statistically volatile. A single assault in a county of 1,000 people produces a rate of 100 per 100,000. Always consider population size when interpreting county-level violent crime data.
Methodology
Violent crime includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as defined by the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting program (2022 data year). Rates are per 100,000 residents. Counties are ranked from lowest to highest violent crime rate. Data is supplemented by County Health Rankings (2024) where FBI data is incomplete.
Data sources: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program (2022), County Health Rankings (2024). All figures are estimates and may differ from other published analyses due to methodology differences.