2016 Safest Places in New York

When someone says "New York," the first thing that comes to mind is probably the city of the same name. With over eight million of the state's nearly 20 million residents, New York City looms large in the public mind. New York State, however, has a wide range of communities with crime rates that vary tremendously.

In an analysis of 210 places with populations of more than 5,000, crime scores ranged from 16 to 5,266. Small towns and villages dominated the top five safest places. Notably, New York City was not among the least safe cities. Here is the detailed report on the safest places in New York.

5 safest places in New York

These communities have an average crime score of 50, which is 95% lower than similar places in the state. With some of the lowest total violent crime rates, these are the five safest.

1. Lewisboro

The safest place is a midsize town of six hamlets about 50 miles north of New York City in Westchester County. The New York State Police serve the community in conjunction with the local police department. This arrangement produced a very positive outcome: Lewisboro had zero violent crimes reported and the lowest rate of property crime in the state for 2014. This community has a well-educated, affluent population. The median household income was 2.4 times the median household income for the rest of the state, and almost 75% of the residents over 25 years old have a bachelor's degree or higher.

2. Malverne

This village in Nassau County, on Long Island, is the second safest overall and number one in the small-communities category. It reported one violent crime in 2014 and had the third-lowest rate of property crime in the state. Malverne involves its citizens in law enforcement by training volunteers to serve as Police Reserve officers. This village has a very high rate of home ownership — nearly 93%. The median household income was almost $56,000 per year above the state median.

3. Elmira Town

Elmira is a small town (population 5,894) approximately 15 miles from Corning that surrounds the city of Elmira on three sides. The town had not only a low rate of violent crime but also the second-lowest rate of property crime. It's located in the Finger Lakes region. With a median household income of just over $75,000 per year, this is a middle-class community. This safe place also offers lower housing and rental costs than New York State overall.

4. Pleasantville

Also from Westchester County, this village is in the town of Mount Pleasant. Pleasantville is about a 15-minute drive from White Plains and a 34-minute drive from Stamford, Connecticut. Despite being small, it has a full-time police department. The village reported only one violent crime in 2014 and had the fourth-lowest rate of property crime. The community had a median household income of slightly over $105,000 per year and a very low poverty rate, as well as a high percentage (61%) of residents with at least a bachelor's degree.

5. Kings Point

The smallest community in the top five (population 5,065) is in Nassau County. Kings Point is a village around an hour's drive from New York City. It had zero violent crimes reported and was the fifth safest for property crime. The median household income was approximately $55,000 above the state median, and home values are very high.

Year-over-year change

Some cities have a strong track record of safety. Two of the safest places, Elmira Town and Pleasantville, were in the top five for 2015. This year's number five, Kings Point, was in the top 10 last year for safest small places.

In both 2015 and 2016, small communities dominated the safest places list. All of the top five for 2015 were from the small-communities category. In 2016, one community was midsize and the other four were small. If you are looking for a small, safe place, New York State has many.

If a small town is not for you, there are some cities with more than 20,000 people that produced consistent results. Glen Cove was the safest city in the large-cities category for the second year in a row. Overall, five of the top cities in this category were repeats from last year. If the biggest city of all interests you, take heart. New York City was not among the least safe cities and is considerably safer than the state's least safe place, Buffalo.

Safest places in New York

2015

2016

Methodology

To rank these places, data was collected from the 2014 FBI crime statistics, which provides the most recent crime data available by city. But not every town participates in this report. Towns or villages with fewer than 5,000 residents were excluded, because towns with small populations are more sensitive to crime score fluctuations for fewer crimes committed. The raw data report included property crimes (burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft and arson) and violent crimes (murder/manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault) from all law enforcement agencies that chose to take part in in the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Woodbury was disqualified, because the FBI suspected underreported data.

Data was standardized to reflect violent and property crimes per 100,000 people, to account for population. The "crime score" weighted violent crime at 80% and property crime at 20%. Though property crime is more prevalent, violent crime tends to be more concerning to town residents. The crime score was then adjusted for population size, giving more slack to larger cities. Finally, the cities were ranked by crime score.

Full list of places in New York