Two North Carolina cities rank among the safest in the country. Here’s why
North Carolina is home to two of the safest cities in the country, a new report finds.
Charlotte ranks No. 9 and Raleigh is No. 10 on a list of places boasting lower rates of violent crime, traffic deaths and other dangers in comparison to other major cities, according to results updated on Sept. 2.
To create the list, the personal finance website SmartAsset said it focused on 50 of the most populous U.S. cities. Using data from a 2025 County Health Rankings report, a 2023 FBI database and other sources, analysts studied each place across five categories: violent crime rate, property crime rate, traffic death rate, drug poisoning death rate and the “percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking.”
“Access to safety data can help Americans weigh the tradeoffs between locations, lifestyles and opportunities when considering where to take a job, buy a home, raise a family or retire,” the website wrote in its report.
What makes the NC cities safe?
On the resulting list of top 10 safest U.S. cities, Charlotte ranked highest among the North Carolina winners. The city made its mark after it ranked in the middle across several categories. The rate of violent crimes committed against adults also was one of the nation’s lowest at 0.0075 per capita, results show.
Meanwhile, Raleigh landed in the top 10 after it was found to have one of the lowest rates of traffic deaths, 7.9 per 100,000 people. The area’s drug overdose death rate of 19.5 per 100,000 people also was one of the lowest in the country, according to data from the county level.
The results come after two Raleigh-area towns ranked high for safety late last year. Cary was named one of the nation’s safest places to live, while another list crowned Apex as the safest place to call home in North Carolina, McClatchy News reported.
In the latest rankings, SmartAsset said the nation’s top city for safety was San Jose, California. Rounding out the top five:
- Los Angeles at No. 2
- Fort Worth, Texas, at No. 3
- Omaha, Nebraska, at No. 4
- Virginia Beach, Virginia, at No. 5
McClatchy News reached out to SmartAsset for additional information on Sept. 12 and is awaiting a response.
