Community Corner
Nassau County Safest In America; Suffolk Also In Top 25: U.S. News
The magazine's ranking uses metrics in three key areas: crime, injuries and public safety capacity.
![Nassau is rated as the safest county in America, U.S. News & World Report says.](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/24966732/20240814/034017/styles/patch_image/public/nassau-county-police-department-car-long-island-patch-alex-costello___14153922465.jpg)
NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Nassau is ranked as the safest county in New York, U.S. News & World Report said in a recent report of the 25 Safest Communities in America.
The magazine measured the overall health of more than 3,000 U.S. counties.
Safety rankings in the sixth annual 2024 Healthiest Communities ranking take into consideration metrics across three key areas — crime, injuries and public safety capacity — and include individual metrics such as gun violence, violent and property crime rates, access to emergency rooms, spending on health and emergency services, and vehicle crash fatality rates.
Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The safety rankings are based on a 100-point scale. Counties in New York that made the top 25 were:
#1 Nassau:
Population: 1,389,160
Community type: Urban, high-performing economy
Public safety score: 100
Overall score: 83.59
Overall rank: 29
Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
#22 Suffolk:
Population: 1,524,486
Community type: Urban, high-performing economy
Performs Best In: Vehicle crash fatality rate
Public safety score: 83.19
Overall score: 72.81
Overall rank: 173
This year, 20 of the 25 jurisdictions that scored the highest for public safety also landed among the country’s top 500 Healthiest Communities, with nine in the top 50 overall rankings.
States in the northeastern U.S. had 10 communities among the top 25 safest communities – the most of any region – with eight of those counties located in New York.
The 25 safest communities are:
- Nassau County, New York
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Rockland County, New York
- Rio Blanco County, Colorado
- Arlington County, Virginia
- Westchester County, New York
- Manassas Park, Virginia
- Putnam County, New York
- Bergen County, New Jersey
- Brown County, Minnesota
- San Mateo County, California
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Poquoson, Virginia
- Shelby County, Iowa
- Eagle County, Colorado
- Jim Hogg County, Texas
- Richmond County, New York
- Los Alamos County, New Mexico
- Prince William County, Virginia
- Queens County, New York
- Colfax County, Nebraska
- Suffolk County, New York
- Morris County, New Jersey
- Loudoun County, Virginia
- Kings County, New York
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.