This California city is safest in the nation, new study says. Here’s which one
Looking to relocate? A California city is the safest in the nation, according to SmartAsset.
The personal finance website recently ranked America’s safest cities in 2025, based on drug overdose deaths, traffic fatalities, property crime rates and other factors.
“City safety — or lack thereof — can lead to great disparity in quality of life and return on dollars invested by residents, businesses and government alike,” financial planner Jaclyn DeJohn, SmartAsset director of economic analysis, wrote in a Sept. 2 article.
Knowing how safe a city is can help people decide “where to take a job, buy a home, raise a family or retire,” DeJohn said.
Here’s which California city ranked No. 1 for safety:
What’s the No. 1 safest city in the United States?
San Jose took first place on SafeAsset’s list of the safest major cites in the United States in 2025.
The Bay Area city, home to about 1 million residents, “ranked among the top 10 for every safety metric considered,” the personal finance website said.
According to SmartAsset, San Jose had the third lowest number of violent crimes per 100,000 people in the nation, and the fifth fewest property crimes. The Santa Clara County seat also has relatively low rates of drug overdose deaths and traffic fatalities, the 2025 study found.
In addition to low crime rates, residents of the tech-centric city in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley enjoy financial stability, SmartAsset said.
San Jose residents had an annual median household income of $141,565 in 2023, the site said, while median housing costs total $2,775 a month.
As of Thursday, Oct. 23, the average San Jose home was valued at $1,382,250, according to real estate website Zillow, with houses fetching even higher prices at sale time.
According to SmartAsset, here’s how San Jose’s safety statistics break down:
- Violent crime per capita: 0.0053
- Violent crimes reported: 5,185 per 100,000 people
- Property crime per capita: 0.0265
- Property crimes reported: 25,715 per 100,000 people
- Traffic deaths per 100,000 people: 6.9
- Drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people: 17.4
- Percentage of adults reporting excessive drinking: 17.8%
How did other California cities rank?
Another California city, Los Angeles came in second place on SmartAsset’s list of the top U.S. cities for safety. Long Beach barely missed a spot in the top 10, landing at No. 11, while San Diego was No. 13 and Sacramento was No. 15.
Lower in the national safety rankings were Fresno at No. 26, Oakland at No. 36 and San Francisco at No. 37.
Bakersfield was the lowest ranking California city, earning a No. 41 spot from SmartAsset.
Where are the top 10 cities for safety in the US?
According to SmartAsset, these were the safest cities in the United States in 2025:
- 1. San Jose
- 2. Los Angeles
- 3. Fort Worth, Texas
- 4. Omaha, Nebraska
- 5. Virginia Beach, Virginia
- 6. Las Vegas
- 7. Arlington, Texas
- 8. El Paso, Texas
- 9. Charlotte, North Carolina
- 10. Raleigh, North Carolina
How did SmartAssets rank safest cities in the nation?
To determine the nation’s safest city, SmartAsset looked at data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, County Health Rankings and NeighborhoodScout.com.
SmartAsset compared 50 of the largest U.S. cities by population based on the following metrics:
- Violent crimes per capita
- Property crimes per capita
- Traffic-related deaths per 100,000 residents
- Drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 residents
- Median monthly housing costs
- Median household income
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "This California city is safest in the nation, new study says. Here’s which one."
