The scores given in this and last year's rankings are similar. However, the weighting of each factor has changed slightly. Each of the six crimes are now given equal weight. The major difference is the universe of cities. Last year we looked at cities of 100,000 population or more. By lowering the population threshold to 75,000, we have added almost 100 additional cities. Accordingly, comparing the ranks of a city between the two years would not be meaningful.
This is the fifth year that we have issued these Safest City and Safest Metropolitan Area rankings. The first year we only ranked the nation's 100 largest cities. The second year we looked at cities of more than 100,000 but used a different method to determine the rankings. The third and fourth (last) years we also examined cities of more than 100,000 in partnership with Money Magazine. Both used the same method as this year except the weight given each crime differed slightly.
Because of interest in the previous year's rankings we have left those pages on our website. Click below to go to those pages. To return to this year's ranking you will need to return to our home page and click there on the connection to our new press release.