Where you live has a lot to do with how safe you feel every day. But safety means more than just locking your doors at night. It also means living somewhere with a low risk of natural disasters, steady employment, and a community where your finances can stay on solid ground.
That is exactly the kind of big-picture thinking WalletHub used when it ranked 182 U.S. cities for safety in 2026. The rankings weighed crime rates, natural disaster risk, and financial security all together. Here is what they found.
The 10 Safest Cities in America
If your idea of a safe retirement spot includes four seasons and a little snow, you are in good company. Alaska and New England dominated the top of the list.
- Juneau, Alaska
- Warwick, Rhode Island
- Overland Park, Kansas
- Burlington, Vermont
- South Burlington, Vermont
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Casper, Wyoming
- Boise, Idaho
- Yonkers, New York
Juneau came in first overall, helped by some of the lowest natural disaster risks in the country. It ranked second-lowest for flooding risk, second-lowest for tornado risk, and was in the top 10 for lowest wildfire risk. It also ranked fourth in the nation for financial safety.
Warwick, Rhode Island, took second place. It had the lowest number of murders of all 182 cities in the study. It also ranked fourth-lowest for aggravated assaults per capita. Low rates of uninsured residents and low poverty levels added to its strong financial score.
Third-place Overland Park, Kansas, stood out for driver and pedestrian safety. Residents there face a lower risk of being killed in car accidents or pedestrian incidents, and the city has few uninsured drivers on the road. A low unemployment rate and a high median credit score also gave it a big financial boost, enough to offset its weaker natural disaster score of 138 out of 182 cities. Overland Park sits in Tornado Alley, according to the World Population Review.
Where Disasters and Finances Tipped the Scales
Natural disaster risk moved cities up and down the list in a big way. Santa Clarita, California, for example, ranked fifth in home and community safety. But because of an extremely low natural disaster score, it dropped all the way to 49th place overall. California cities face earthquake risks, while Florida cities have to contend with hurricanes.
In fact, all 10 cities with the worst natural disaster scores came from either California or Florida.
Financial health told a similar story. The five cities with the highest percentage of uninsured residents were all in Texas. Four of the five cities with the lowest emergency savings rates were in Florida.
The Midwest showed some real strength on the financial side. Rapid City and Sioux Falls in South Dakota tied with Burlington, South Burlington, and Honolulu, Hawaii, for the lowest unemployment rates in the study. And among the cities with the highest percentage of households that have emergency savings, Wichita, Kansas, and Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota all made the top five.
So if you have ever wondered whether where you live affects your peace of mind, it turns out, it really does. And according to WalletHub, the safest places in America right now are a long way from earthquake country and hurricane season.
