This North Carolina city ranks among the nation’s safest places to live. Here’s why
North Carolina is home to one of the nation’s safest places to live, new rankings show.
Cary, just west of Raleigh, is No. 6 on a list of cities boasting lower crime rates and crime-related costs, according to results from the financial website MoneyGeek.
“The direct economic costs of crime to individuals and society include victim medical and mental health care needs, damage to and loss of property and police and corrections costs,” the website wrote in its report, last updated Dec. 18. “Aside from the imminent danger of crime, people living in higher crime areas see depressed home values and pay higher prices for crucial needs, including home insurance, renters insurance and auto insurance.”
To create the list, MoneyGeek said it studied FBI data from 2023, the latest time period available. It focused on nearly 300 cities across the country, each home to more than 100,000 residents.
Why was Cary named a safe city?
The town of Cary, with a population of about 180,000 people, was the only North Carolina destination to rank in the top 10. It has the state’s lowest crime cost per capita at $381, results show.
Cary also was found to have the state’s lowest rate of property crimes and violent crimes, such as murder and robbery. Here’s where North Carolina cities landed in the national rankings:
- Raleigh at No. 148
- Wilmington at No. 169
- High Point at No. 190
- Charlotte at No. 206
- Durham at No. 229
- Winston-Salem at No. 246
- Fayetteville at No. 265
- Greensboro at No. 269
Cary isn’t a stranger to receiving acclaim for its safety. In 2022, it was named one of the safest U.S. cities due to lower crime rates and risks related to driving, drugs and alcohol use. And in 2023, it was named the nation’s second-best place for drivers, based on fewer crash-related dangers drivers face, McClatchy News reported.
This time around, MoneyGeek said the nation’s top-ranked city for safety was Ramapo, New York, a roughly 40-mile drive northwest from New York City. Rounding out the top five:
- Frisco, Texas, at No. 2
- Irvine, California, at No. 3
- Fishers, Indiana, at No. 4
- Lakewood Township, New Jersey, at No. 5
MoneyGeek also released a list of the safest small cities, defined as places with 30,000 to 100,000 residents. The Raleigh suburb of Apex ranked No. 1 among the North Carolina towns considered, results show.
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 8:00 AM with the headline "This North Carolina city ranks among the nation’s safest places to live. Here’s why."
