Dorothy once said “There’s no place like home!” after visiting Oz, and it’s really no wonder that she was talking about Kansas. Still, when choosing a home in this great state, it can be easy to get stressed. There’s so much to research when you’re moving, especially when it comes to where the safest spots are.
We here at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog can help you with that—in addition to finding a house, that is. We’ve been finding the safest places in each state, and now it’s Kansas’ turn. So we collected our numbers, made our list, clicked our heels together three times, and came out with this list of the top 10 safe spots in the state:
1.
Prairie Village2.
City of Lansing2.
City of Shawnee4. City of Derby
5.
City of Gardner6.
City of Olathe7.
City of Andover8.
City of Ottawa9.
City of Leawood10. City of Liberal
This list just goes to show that great things come in small packages, especially when it comes to safety. These small places with strong communities and lots of peace and quiet offer safety to all locals.
Don’t see your city on here? Check the bottom of this article to see a full list of places, or just read on to the next section to find out what we omitted, and what we used to get this ranking.
How We Created This Ranking
As in all our other Big Deal Lists, we went by the numbers in determining safety factors. First, we made a list of the most populated place in the state over 10,000 people. That came out to 35 places. Then we gathered data from the
2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report in the following areas:
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Assault
- Burglary
- Theft
- Vehicle theft
We divided these kinds of crimes into four categories:
- Murders
- Violent crimes
- Property crimes
- Total crimes
We omitted any place that didn’t have crime data reported, so that could be why your seat isn’t on this list. After that we calculated each of these crime rates based on crimes per 100,000 people, so that we could compare larges and smaller places equally. We ranked each place in each category from one to 35, with one being the safest.
Lastly, we weighted these rankings so that murders, violent crimes, and property crimes each made up 30 percent of the overall score, where the total number of crimes accounted for 10 percent. Then we averaged the weighted rankings for each place into one
Big Deal Score. The lowest score was our safest place.
Let’s examine in a little more detail why each place deserved it’s place in our top 10, starting with our first place, and only village on our list.
1. Prairie Village
Though it’s one of our smaller places, and the only village in our top safest places, Prairie Village was head and shoulders safer above the rest.
This place ranked safest in murders, of which it had none, and second in violent crime for 2012. It even ranked second in property crime, ranking it second in total crime overall.
Really, there were few crimes of any sort here. Nearly no rapes, robberies, or assaults per 100,000 in 2012, and one of the lowest vehicle theft numbers on our list, keep this place firmly at No. 1.
For anyone still not convinced, locals here had a mere 1 in 86 chance of being the victim of a crime. There’s no two ways about it, Prairie Village is incredibly safe.
2. Lansing
If you are at all worried about keeping your property safe from grabby hands, you’ll definitely find that Lansing is your kind of place.
Lansing had the lowest property crime ranking on our list, with a very low 245 burglaries, 332 thefts, and 17 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people in 2012. The 11,443 residents here have got to be on cloud nine about that.
If they’re not thrilled about that ranking, they’re probably ecstatic about the low number of violent crimes here. 14 rapes, 17 robberies, and 149 assaults per 100,000 people were the only violent crimes reported in 2012.
All this means that locals had a staggeringly low 1 in 129 chance of being the victim of a crime.
2. Shawnee
It’s hard not to be impressed by the numbers that Shawnee is dishing out, given that it tied for No. 2 in our top 10.
With the sixth lowest violent crime on our list, this place had only 17 rapes, 19 robberies, and 98 assaults per 100,000 people reported in 2012. There were also, of course, no murders reported that year.
The numbers for property crime were even more impressive than that. The fourth place ranking in that area, with only 1,668 crimes of that type per 100,00 people, is enough to make people feel like their stuff is safe when they call this city home.
All that leads to Shawnee having had the fourth lowest total crime and a mere 1 in 55 chance of being the victim of a crime, with it being very unlikely that it’s a violent one.
4. Derby
The locals of Derby are probably all smiles at seeing their city on our list, which is understandable considering these great scores.
We’ll admit that this place had slightly higher property crime rate, ranking ninth, and a 1 in 41 chance of being the victim of a crime, but both of those numbers are still vastly better than Wichita or Topeka.
Plus, the violent crime here was very low. Ranking No. 3 on our list, the violent crime numbers consisted of only 107 crimes of that type per 100,000 people reported in 2012.
So breathe easy Derby natives, you’re plenty safe in your cozy hometown.
5. Gardner
The crime stats in Gardner are pretty outstanding.
With a respectable total of 19,532 people living there, this place still managed to only have 26 rapes, 10 robberies, and 143 assaults per 100,000 people in 2012. That gave this place the ninth lowest violent crime on our list.
What those number mean is that this place offered a (once again very respectable) 1 in 52 chance of being the victim of a crime.
Gardener certainly looks safe when put up against much larger, and much more dangerous, cities in the state.
6. Olathe
Even though it ranked as our No. 6, this locale is all about lucky number seven. Why you ask? Well, the seventh lowest violent crime the seventh lowest property crime, and the seventh lowest total crime pretty much speak for themselves.
As it was for most others in our top 10, there were no murders reported here in 2012.
All that means is that Olate locals had a 1 in 48 chance of being the victim of a crime. That’s a pretty darn good score, that this is easily the largest place on our list.
It’s rare we see any big cities in a safest ranking, but with 128,560 people calling it home, this city certainly proves that even large places can offer safety.
7. Andover
Locals of Andover can breathe easy tonight knowing they live in the seventh safest place in the state.
With very low numbers in crime, including 25 rapes, eight robberies, 76 assaults, and only 118 burglaries per 100,000 people in 2012, it’s hard to argue with that ranking. Not bad for a city of only 11,839 people.
With the fourth lowest total crime and the tenth lowest property crime, this place had the 10th lowest crime overall. It all came together in the city’s locals having had only a 1 in 40 chance of being the victim of a crime.
8. Ottawa
No, this isn’t that one city in Canada, and many would argue that this place is far better.
For one thing, the locals here had a very chance of being the victim of a crime, and even smaller chances of it being a violent one. What’s more is that there were no murders reported here in 2012, and just 71 rapes, 16 robberies, and 205 assaults per 100,000 people.
The property crime in Ottawa was the fifth lowest on our list, with only 2,397 crimes of that type per 100,000 people occurring in 2012.
Compared to Topeka, which had 5,309 crimes of that type per 100,000 people, that’s an amazing score, and worthy of a top 10 safety ranking.
9. Leawood
Upon first impression you would think that Leawood would be a little higher on our list. Home to 32,554 people, this place had only 12 rapes, 15 robberies, and 25 assaults per 100,000 people. That’s the very lowest violent crime on our list.
The property crime also scored well, with the third lowest number overall. On top of that, this place had the third lowest total crime and offered residents a mere one in 68 chance of being the victim of a crime.
So, why wasn’t it higher? Unfortunately, Leawood had a murder reported in 2012, ranking it 27th for that category and dragging down the overall ranking a bit. Still, in every other area, It’s hard to get much safer than this place.
10. Liberal
While most places had a few standout scores, Liberal was solid across the board. With only 2,748 property crimes per 100,000 people, this city ranked the 14th best for crimes of that type in 2012.
Equally impressive, the low numbers of rapes, robberies, and assaults made this place the 14th safest as far as violent crime. There were also no murders reported that year.
All this culminated in Liberal having the 12th lowest total crime that we looked at, and gave locals a low chance of being the victim of a crime (1 in 33).
To The Stars, With Very Few Difficulties
Locals of these places should walk proudly and without fear through their wonderful communities, and anyone casting an eye to Kansas might do well to consider these places in their home search.
After all, not having to fear for your safety is just one less thing to worry about while you’re relocating.
