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When most people think of Nebraska, images of flat land, corn, and suburbs generally come to mind.
While some of these stereotypes are certainly true, there are also plenty of really wonderful things about Nebraska. There are exciting places, there are great communities for raising families, and of course, underlying it all, there is safety.
That’s what we’re going to focus on today here at the Movoto Real Estate Blog: the safest places in Nebraska. Which place came out on top? That honor went to the City of Gering.
Here are the 10 safest places in Nebraska:
1. City of Gering
2. City of Seward
3. City of La Vista
4. City of Blair
5. City of Holdrege
6. City of Papillion
7. City of York
8. City of Columbus
9. City of Nebraska City
10. City of Plattsmouth
If you’re wondering how we came up with this list in the first place, just keep reading. In the next paragraphs, we’ll go over the method of our analysis, then we’ll take a look at why each of these 10 places are safer than the rest.
How We Created This Ranking
In order to put this ranking together, we first made a list of the most populated places in Nebraska based on the 2010 U.S. Census (all places with populations of 5,000 or more). Then we gathered the crime data for each place from the 2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report, in each of the following criteria:
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Assault
- Burglary
- Theft
- Vehicle theft
After that, we divided these crimes into four different categories:
- Murders
- Violent crimes
- Property crimes
- Total crimes
After omitting any places that didn’t report crime data to the bureau that year, we wound up with a total of 28 places.
In order to fairly compare the places with larger populations to those with smaller populations, we calculated the crime rate per 100,000 residents for each of the places we studied.
Using these crime rates, we ranked each place from one to 28 in each of our categories, with one being the safest. We then weighted the results so that murders, violent crimes, and property crimes each comprised 30 percent of the overall score, while total crimes comprised 10 percent.
Finally, we averaged these results into an overall Big Deal Score, the lowest of which belonged to our safest place, Gering.
If you’d like to see how the rest of the places we looked at ranked, scroll down to the bottom of the post where we’ve included a complete table. Otherwise, we’ll take a closer look at what makes each of our top 10 so safe.
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1. Gering
Gering’s motto aptly describes the feeling of this community: it’s “about our people… about our future.” This mentality is perfectly reflected in the low crime rate, especially when it came to violent crimes.
In 2012, Gering had the lowest number of violent crimes in the state: just 35 per 100,000 people. Of these, there were no murders, no rapes, no robberies, and just 35 assaults. So, not only did Gering have the least number of violent crimes, but it also had the least violent of violent crimes.
2. Seward
Underlying the family friendly feeling of this city with its quaint downtown and famous annual Fourth of July celebration is its safety.
As a matter of fact, in 2012 Seward had the lowest overall number of crimes in the state: just 1,429 per 100,000 people. Because of this low overall number, residents had just a 1 in 70 chance of being the victim of a crime.
These 1,429 crimes can be broken down into 1,343 property crimes (the lowest amount in the state) and 86 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
Compare that to, say, Omaha where there were 4,588 property crimes and 595 violent crimes per 100,000 people, 10 of which were murders, and it’s no wonder Seward ranked so high on our list.
3. La Vista
This Omaha suburb is one of the fastest-growing cities in the state, and after looking at its low number of crimes, it’s no wonder why.
La Vista had just 1,674 crimes per 100,000 people in 2012, including 1,613 property crimes and 61 violent crimes.
Of those property crimes, 209 were vehicle thefts, 1,182 were thefts, and 222 were burglaries. Of the violent crimes, 12 were assaults, 18 were robberies, 31 per 100,000 people were rapes, and none were murders.
4. Blair
This Washington County city came in high in our analysis, primarily for its low number of property crimes, and therefore, overall crimes.
In 2012, Blair had just 1,536 property crimes, the third lowest number in the state. Additionally, there were 87 violent crimes, making for a low total of just 1,623 crimes for the year.
To put this into perspective, just take a look at the city of Lincoln. Here, there were a total of 4,249 crimes per 100,000 people, made up of 3,851 property crimes and 398 violent crimes per 100,000 people.
5. Holdrege
With just 54 violent crimes per 100,000 people, Holdrege had one of the lowest numbers of violent crime in the state. Of those, none were murders, none were robberies, 18 were rapes, and 36 were assaults.
Additionally, Holdrege saw 90 vehicle thefts, 1,880 thefts, and 181 burglaries, making a total of 2,205 crimes per 100,000 people; the seventh lowest total in the state.
6. Papillion
This is by no means the first award for Papillion. Over the years, it has been recognized as one of the country’s top small towns, one of its best places to live, and even one of the most affordable. Now, it can safely add safety to its bragging rights.
That’s because in 2012, Papillion had one of the lowest numbers of overall crime in the state, with just 2,322 crimes per 100,000 people, and the second lowest number of violent crimes, with just 41 per 100,000 people. Of those violent crimes, none were murders.
7. York
York’s impressively low number of violent crimes—just 51 per 100,000 people—is the reason it made it into our top 10. Of these 51 violent crimes, there were no rapes, no murders, 38 robberies, and just 13 assaults per 100,000 people.
Apart from these violent crimes, York had a reported 2,648 property crimes, for a total of 2,699 crimes for every 100,000 people.
8. Columbus
The Platte County city of Columbus is easily one of the safest places in the county and the state in general.
This is primarily because of its low, low overall number of crimes: just 2,197 per 100,000 people in 2012. Of those 2,197 crimes, 2,108 were property crimes and 89 were violent crimes (none of which were murders).
Compared to the similarly sized North Platte—where there were 4,769 total crimes, including 4,507 property crimes and 262 violent crimes per 100,000 people—it’s even more apparent just how safe Columbus really is.
9. Nebraska City
The primary reason behind Nebraska City’s safety is its low number of violent crimes: just 55 per 100,000 people.
Of those, there were no murders, 27 rapes, 14 robberies, and 14 assaults per 100,000 people. With an additional 2,715 property crimes, Nebraska City had a total of 2,770 crimes per 100,000 people for 2012.
Where many places in the state had over 3,000 crimes per 100,000—and, in the cases of Lincoln and Omaha, over 4,000 and 5,000 respectively—you can see why Nebraska City made our top 10.
10. Plattsmouth
The final spot on our list goes to the city of Plattsmouth. This Cass County city had the sixth lowest overall number of violent crimes in 2012, with just 61 per 100,000 people. None of these were murders.
Plattsmouth also had a relatively low number of property crimes (2,755) for a total of 2,816 crimes per 100,000 people. Of its violent crimes, there were 46 rapes and 15 robberies per 100,000 people, and of its property crimes, there were 199 vehicle thefts, 2,342 thefts, and 214 burglaries.
Feeling At Home In Nebraska
Feeling at home in Nebraska shouldn’t be too hard, especially if you live in one of these 10 safest communities. If this list has inspired you to seek out a safer city, be it in Nebraska or even somewhere else, we can help you find a home there.
