These 2 NC cities are among the most popular for movers — but 1 has a crime problem
A new report named two North Carolina cities among the most popular destinations for movers in the U.S. in 2025.
However, the report says crime rates are down in one city, and surging in the other.
The report, from MoveBuddha, a Georgia-based moving and storage company, said that violent crime in Asheville, which came in at No. 4 on the list, dropped 33% between 2020 and 2024.
But Raleigh, at No. 53 on the list, saw a major uptick in crime during the same time period, the report says.
To find the safest cities, MoveBuddha analyzed cities that had more than 50 MoveBuddha search inquiries and combined that move data with crime data from the Real-Time Crime Index.
The company measured both year-over-year change in the number of criminal incidents alongside the broader change from 2020 to 2024, averaging the two and scaling results to create a crime score in each of two categories: violent crime and property crime. The average of these two scores was used to create a “crime decline” score between 1 and 10 for each city.
Crime in Raleigh
Violent crime rose 6.3% in Raleigh from 2020 to 2024, while property crime jumped 31%, according to the report.
But the report also pointed out that violent crime incidents have fallen 7.7% year over year from 2023 to 2024.
The report comes just months after the U.S. News & World Report 2025 Best Places to Retire ranking named Raleigh the sixth-best city to retire, The Charlotte Observer reported.
While overall crime in Raleigh is up, its suburbs have garnered national attention for their excellent safety ratings.
Cary, just west of Raleigh, was recently named the sixth-safest city to live in in the U.S. according to results from the financial website MoneyGeek. In December, the site also named Apex the No. 1 safest small city to move to in North Carolina.
High honors for Asheville
MoveBuddha’s report is the latest in a string of national accolades for Asheville.
Asheville, recognized for being “fun and a bit funky,” came in at No. 15 on Travel & Leisure’s Readers’ 15 Favorite Cities in the United States of 2023, the Observer reported.
The city also ranked No. 9 on USA Today’s 2023 10 Best list of top destinations to visit “on a budget” and ranked No. 10 on a list of cities offering top-notch restaurants and cuisine, according to the travel website Tripadvisor.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 1:00 PM with the headline "These 2 NC cities are among the most popular for movers — but 1 has a crime problem."
