These Are The Top 10 Safest Towns In Virginia: 2024 List

VIENNA, VA — Towns outside Virginia's cities were ranked the safest, according to crime statistics analyzed by SafeWise. Purcellville was ranked No. 1 for the state's safest community.

The report was released last month and named the safest cities in the country based on crime rates and other data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Here's a look at the cities and towns that made up the rest of the top 10.

1. Purcellville
2. Blacksburg
3. Lexington
4. Bridgewater
5. Vienna
6. Poquoson
7. Strasburg
8. Buena Vista
9. Warrenton
10. Falls Church

Here are more insights into the communities on the list from Safewise, a security product review platform:

According to our most recent State of Safety report, Virginians are more worried about crime and safety than most Americans, despite having crime rates that are well below national averages. And Virginia’s safest cities have even lower crime rates than the rest of the state—violent crime is cut in half in these 20 low-crime cities.

But residents may be in tune to rising per capita crime rates across the state. Both violent crime and property crime saw increases year over year.

Here's how Safewise described its terms and methodology used in the rankings:

For the purposes of city ranking reports, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

Overall, across the U.S., crime rates have been in flux the past couple of years. The violent crime rate held at 4.0 incidents per 1,000 people for the third consecutive year. Property crime rose for the first time in 10 years of Safest Cities reports — from 19.3 incidents per 1,000 to 20.7.

Safewise calculated per capita crime rates for 44 states that submitted complete data to the FBI.

Here's a look at how crime rates trended across the US:

• Violent crime rates held steady or decreased in 66% of states.
• 15 states saw a jump in violent crime year over year.
• Property crime rates held steady or decreased in 64% of states—despite rising nationwide.
• 16 states saw a jump in property crime rates.
• 9 states saw both violent and property crime rates rise year over year.

See the full 2024 report from SafeWise.com.