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These are the safest small towns and cities in every state: report

(NEXSTAR) – Small towns have a reputation for tight-knit communities, charm and safety. At least one in every state lives up to the last part of the stereotype, an updated analysis finds.

MoneyGeek, a personal finance site, had researchers analyze last year’s FBI crime data of smaller towns and cities where the population is between 30,000 and 100,000. They used the crime data to calculate the cost of crime in each area.

The cost of crime includes impacts to victims, like the loss of stolen property and medical bills, MoneyGeek explained, as well as the cost to the justice system. Violent crimes typically result in a higher cost than nonviolent crimes, MoneyGeek said.

Many of the safest small communities, according to last year’s crime data, are found in the Northeast. Monroe Township, a New Jersey community about 50 miles from Manhattan, ranked No. 1 thanks to its low property crime and even lower violent crime rate.

In the No. 2 spot was another New Jersey community not too far away from the first: Hillsborough Township.

Wallingford, Connecticut; Shrewsbury, Massachusetts; Westfield, New Jersey; Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania; and Princeton, New Jersey also all made the top 10.

Outside the northeast, Zionsville, Indiana; Mason, Ohio; and Lone Peak, Utah all scored highly.

And for all the talk of crime rates in California’s larger cities, the Golden State had two cities in the top 15: Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County and Danville, a suburb in the Bay Area.

MoneyGeek also broke down the data to find the small town or city with the lowest cost of crime in every state. See the results for all 50 states in the chart below:

CityStateCrime Cost per Capita
AlabasterAlabama$245
JuneauAlaska$2,164
San LuisArizona$113
Bella VistaArkansas$509
Rancho Santa MargaritaCalifornia$81
WindsorColorado$81
WallingfordConnecticut$55
NewarkDelaware$546
OviedoFlorida$202
MiltonGeorgia$155
RexburgIdaho$550
MundeleinIllinois$148
ZionsvilleIndiana$51
UrbandaleIowa$207
LeawoodKansas$301
ElizabethtownKentucky$254
Bossier CityLouisiana$2,976
BangorMaine$478
BowieMaryland$205
ShrewsburyMassachusetts$59
Bloomfield TownshipMichigan$112
Cottage GroveMinnesota$186
SouthavenMississippi$593
BallwinMissouri$91
BozemanMontana$1,092
BellevueNebraska$723
DoverNew Hampshire$121
Monroe Township, Middlesex CountyNew Jersey$31
CarlsbadNew Mexico$1,410
Yorktown TownNew York$85
Fuquay-VarinaNorth Carolina$152
West FargoNorth Dakota$415
MasonOhio$65
OwassoOklahoma$371
Lake OswegoOregon$257
Cranberry TownshipPennsylvania$78
South KingstownRhode Island$161
Fort MillSouth Carolina$153
Rapid CitySouth Dakota$2,164
ColliervilleTennessee$298
Flower MoundTexas$136
Lone PeakUtah$66
BurlingtonVermont$2,309
BlacksburgVirginia$397
PullmanWashington$268
HuntingtonWest Virginia$2,754
New BerlinWisconsin$116
LaramieWyoming$664

Not every small town is a bastion of safety, the study found. Monroe, Louisiana, for example had a higher cost of crime in 2022 than the vast majority of large cities.

A massive data dump of 11 million criminal offenses reported to the FBI, released in October, showed that while violent crime dropped nationwide in 2022, property crime jumped.

In 2022, violent crime overall, which includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, dropped modestly. Violent crime was 1.7% lower in 2022 than in 2021, the FBI said.

The murder rate, in particular, dropped significantly. It saw a 6.1% decline between 2021 and 2022.

But on the flip side, property crimes actually rose 7.1% in 2022 after years of decline. A large jump in motor vehicle theft contributed to the rise in reported property crimes.

For its analysis, MoneyGeek wasn’t able to use FBI crime data for small towns and cities in Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania. For those states, MoneyGeek’s researchers pulled data from local city police departments.