The Top 10 Safest Cities in America, 2011 Edition

It goes without saying that just about any singleton, couple, or family wants to live in a city that’s safe for themselves and their loved ones. That being said, some cities in our nation are safer than others.
And that’s where today’s story comes in. The New York-based Risk and Insurance Management Society just announced their list of the top 10 safest cities in America — and some of the entries may surprise you.
So how did they compile their list? Here’s their methodology:

To find America’s 10 safest cities, we looked at metropolises with populations above 250,000. We ranked them by violent crime rates—the number of violent crimes (murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault) per 100,000 residents in 2010, as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
We also ranked each city on the traffic-fatality rate per 100,000 residents based on 2009 data, the most recent available, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We then averaged the ranking for each city to arrive at final scores. In the event of ties, the city with the lower crime rate got the higher ranking.

With that out of the way, let’s get on with the list!

Photo: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/egim45edhe/1-plano-texas/#content?partner=yahoore

1. Plano, Texas

Car Fatality Rank: 6

Violent Crime Rank: 1

Interesting Facts: A well-to-do suburb of Dallas, this city has a potent community watch program, college graduate-filled police force, and a median household income that sits 60% above average nationally: $79,234.

Photo: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/egim45edhe/2-henderson-nev/

2. Henderson, Nevada

Car Fatality Rank: 5

Violent Crime Rank: 3

Interesting Facts: There isn’t as much traffic or as many tourists in this suburb of Las Vegas due to the facts that the area’s casinos target locals. It also features only a 7% poverty rate, a significantly low number.

Photo: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/egim45edhe/3-honolulu-hawaii-2/

3. Honolulu, Hawaii

Car fatality rank: 7

Violent crime rank: 4

Interesting Facts: According to the article, this city’s safety could be chalked up to the fact that it “has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, the city is relatively affluent and [it has] that famous relaxed aloha spirit”. (This writer could see those last two items being true, but she’d beg to differ about gun control.)