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March 12, 2015Idaho is recognized as one of the safest states in the U.S. In fact, according to the FBI’s most recent Crime Report, 45 percent less violent crimes were reported in Idaho (204 per 100,000 residents) than the national average of 367 per 100,000 citizens. Of the top 10 safest cities on our list, none reported a murder and 9 of the 10 cities reported less than a dozen violent crimes for the year. In addition to a nominal violent crime rate, Idaho also has one of the lowest rates of non-violent property crime. Idaho reported 1,864 incidents of property crimes per 100,000 residents versus the national average of 2,730 property crimes per 100,000 citizens.
All in all, Weiser earned top spot as the safest city in Idaho, but other cities deserve recognition for their remarkably low incidents of crime. For example Grangeville, the forth safest city in Idaho, reported the fewest violent crimes, with only one aggravated assault. Soda Springs reported just 11 total property crimes, the least number of any city on our list.
Despite the fact that Idaho enjoys an enviable crime rate, its prison population has been growing at an alarming pace. Over a recent eight year period, Idaho’s number of inmates grew by 28 percent, representing one of the biggest increases of any state. To combat the rising prison population, Idaho launched the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) in June of 2014. JRI uses a detailed, data-driven approach to creating and executing initiatives to help reduce the amount of money spent on corrections and reinvest those funds into programs to help reduce the number of repeat offenders and increase public safety.
If you live in, or you’re considering moving to The Gem State, you’ll want to get familiar with the safe cities we’ve listed below.
1. Weiser
2. Soda Springs
3. Rexburg
4. Grangeville
5. Shelley
6. Salmon
7. Hailey
8. Kimberly
9. Heyburn
10. American Falls
How We Chose the Safest Cities in Idaho
To create our top 10 safest cities in Idaho list we looked at cities with a population of over 3,000 residents in 2012 and evaluated the most recent FBI Crime Report statistics. Next, we analyzed the number of Violent Crimes, which are considered robbery, aggravated assault, forcible rape, and murder, as well as Property Crimes, consisting of motor vehicle theft, burglary, arson, and larceny-theft that were reported in each city. From there, we calculated the chance of these crimes happening out of 1,000 people to create a level playing field.
The FBI Crime Report is well-accepted source for crime statistics, but not every Idaho city reported complete data to the FBI. If you don’t see a city you think is safe listed below, your local law enforcement agency may not have reported complete data to the FBI, which caused them to be removed from our list.