Chicago's reputation for safety got another boost with a suburb making it to the top ranks of America's safest cities for 2024. MoneyGeek's latest data places Naperville, Illinois, as the country's eighth-safest city, a noteworthy achievement for the Chicago area. Meanwhile, Thousand Oaks, California, snagged the title of the safest city nationwide, with an impressively low per capita crime cost of just $241.
Despite concerns in major urban areas, Naperville's recognition, reported by NBC Chicago, showcases how safety can be achieved in the suburbs. As noted by MoneyGeek, Fishers, Indiana, and Pembroke Pines, Florida, follow closely behind Thousand Oaks in the safety rankings. MoneyGeek took a comprehensive approach, analyzing more than 300 cities with populations over 100,000 to estimate the cost of crime, including violent and property crimes, based on FBI reports and academic research.
Meanwhile, Aurora, Illinois, also emerged as a contender in the safe cities category. Based on a report from WalletHub, cited by WGN-TV, it ranked as the 25th safest city, performing exceptionally well in safety and crime, landing in the 12th spot. However, its challenges in financial safety saw it placed at 134th, reflecting the multifaceted nature of what constitutes safety and security in America's urban landscapes.
The analysis by MoneyGeek, which estimates the average cost of crime per capita in the U.S. at $2,221 for 2022, paints a broad picture of safety across the country. The study's details, such as the high cost of violent crime over property crime and the economic implications of crime, were noted. "Behind all these averages that people like to cite about the crime rates in different communities are individual people and their decisions about how they choose to engage in their community," Jesse Bruhn, an assistant professor at Brown University, told MoneyGeek.
