Many homebuyers flock from cities to the suburbs when looking for a place to settle down, so SmartAsset wanted to check out which ones offered the safest environment. The financial tech firm looked at 360 places located on the outskirts of the 100 largest US cities, using multiple metrics on safety: crime (incidents of both violent crime and property crime), fatal traffic accidents, the percentage of adults who drink too much, and drug overdose deaths. Lehi, Utah, emerged as the safest of America's suburbs, while New Mexico's Bernalillo came in last. The top and bottom 10 suburbs, based on their overall safety:
Safest suburbs
- Lehi, Utah
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Layton, Utah
- Rockville, Maryland
- Great Falls, Virginia
- Dacula, Georgia
- Buford, Georgia
- Elmhurst, Illinois
- Oak Brook, Illinois
- Edgewater, New Jersey
Least-safe suburbs
- Capitola, California
- Largo, Florida
- Plymouth, Massachusetts
- DeLand, Florida
- Senatobia, Mississippi
- Asheboro, North Carolina
- Petersburg, Virginia
- Scottsburg, Indiana
- Lumberton, North Carolina
- Bernalillo, New Mexico
Check out how
other suburbs ranked. (
These are the cities in America with the best quality of life.)