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Located in the rainy, heavily forested Pacific Northwest, Oregon is a land of diversity: evergreen forests, semi-arid shrublands, volcanos and Crater Lake, the nation’s deepest lake, can all be found within its borders. Oregon is also home to some of the more progressive cities in the country in Portland and Eugene.

Canby, located in Clackamas County, is Oregon’s safest city. The community of 17,395 is named after a decorated Civil War general who met his end in a war with the Modoc People, a local Indian Tribe. Canby’s 1.21 violent crimes per 1,000 residents is less than half of the state average.

Sherwood (#2) is a residential community of just under 20,000 located about 17 miles southwest of Portland. Its 0.67 violent crimes per 1K is the lowest in the state. At third is Lake Oswego, a wealthy suburb of Portland that also logged a violent crime rate of less than 1 violent crime per 1K.

Beaverton (#4), famous as the world headquarters of Nike, Inc., is much larger than other communities in the top five at nearly 98K residents, yet posted crime rates well below the state average. Sandy (#5), has a population nearly a tenth that of Beaverton and logged just eight violent crimes in the latest statistical year.

Pennsylvania holds a distinctive place in the nation’s history as one of the 13 original colonies, and the second to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, is the location of Independence Hall, where the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were drafted. In more recent news, the city’s NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles, defeated the New England Patriots in the 2018 Super Bowl.

Pennsylvania’s top five safest communities are all townships of around 20,000 or less. Number one on the list is Adams Township of Butler County. Not to be confused with the other two towns in the state with the same name, Butler’s Adams Township’s impressive 0.37 violent crimes per 1K is less than six times that of the state average.

Coming in at #2 is South Fayette Township in Allegheny County. Settlement of this town of 15,723 dates back to the 1760’s. #3 Penn Township (Westmoreland County), location of the historic Bushy Run Battlefield, is the only Pennsylvania community in the top 20 with a violent crime rate of over 1 per 1K, yet it compensates with its very low rate of property crime.

Fourth on the list is New Hanover Township. Founded in 1741, the town’s crime stats are well below state averages. Rounding out the top five is Buckingham Township, the home of many historic districts dating back to the 18th century.

While Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the U.S., it has left an outsized mark on the nation’s history. The state was the first to renounce allegiance to the British Crown, and the fourth to ratify the Articles of Confederation in 1778. Today, Rhode Island is known for its many bays and beautiful autumn foliage.

Rhode Island’s safest communities are all modestly sized, with none reaching 20,000 in population. The safest community in our ranking is Glocester, a town just outside of capital Providence that logged just one violent crime in the latest statistical year.

Second on the list is Scituate, another small town of just over 10,000 residents. Founded way back in 1710 by Massachusetts transplants hailing from another town with the small tricky-to-pronounce name, Scituate’s violent crime rate is over six times below the state average. #3 East Greenwich holds the title of wealthiest municipality in the state. The over 300-year-old community logged a mere 0.61 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

The fourth safest community is Barrington. Slightly larger than preceding communities on the list, Barrington is home to nine sites recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. Portsmouth, #5, is the only town in the top ten with a violent crime rate per 1,000 inhabitants over 1.

With its lush forests, mountain ranges to the west, and long stretch of picturesque coastline, South Carolina is certainly among the most beautiful of the nation’s 50 states. The Palmetto State has made its mark in America’s history, as well, as the 8th state to adopt the U.S. constitution in 1788 and then the first to secede from the Union 72 years later.

The safest community in South Carolina is the charming coastal village of Bluffton. Known for its historic Old Town, the fastest growing municipality in South Carolina logged crime rates significantly below the state average.

#2 Mount Pleasant, with a population of 84,277, is four times larger than the preceding municipality on the list and the fourth largest in the state, overall. Its rate of just 1.51 violent crimes per 1,000 inhabitants is characteristic of a much smaller community.

Third on the list is Tega Cay, a planned community near the nation’s border that is the only community over 10K in the state with a violent crime per 1K rate less than 1.

Rounding out the top five are Hanahan (#4) and Mauldin (#5), similarly sized towns with violent crime rates less than half of the state average.

For parents sending their children off to college, safety is usually the number one concern. It is often the first time that kids are off on their own, living independently outside of the home. Choosing a school with a solid reputation for security and low potential for dangerous threats allows moms and dads to breathe easier once their kids ship off to earn a higher education.

With this thought in mind, we compiled our list of 2018’s Safest College Campuses in the U.S. We created this ranking using the most recent data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting and the Campus Safety Security Survey put out by the U.S. Department of Education. Nearly all accredited institutions were considered in this project, save for those with enrollment under 10,000 students, and others for which a significant amount of data was unavailable.

Each school’s safety score was calculated by analyzing crimes reported by universities, including rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, motor vehicle theft and arsons. Also factoring into the safety score were violent and property crime rates for the cities in which the schools were located, and the number of law enforcement officers employed by the institution per 1,000 students.

Did your campus make the list? Share the good news on your site!

<p><strong>Please include attribution to https://www.alarms.org with this graphic.</strong><br /><br /><a href='https://www.alarms.org/safest-college-campuses-2018'><img src='https://s3.amazonaws.com/content.alarms.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/13072723/safest-college-campuses.png' alt='2018 safest college campuses badge' 540px border='0' /></a></p>

Looking at the top twenty safest campuses, overall, the state of Massachusetts has the most placings by a large margin, with three schools in the top ten alone, and four in the top twenty. Michigan, Kentucky and Idaho all follow, with two schools each placing in the top ten.

As a state, Michigan is one of the poorer for violent crime in the country, due to largest city Detroit’s high crime rates, yet the Midwestern state performed much better in property crime. 

Outside of Detroit and other areas hit hard by economic shifts and outsourcing, Michigan has quite a few communities that are very safe. At number one is Grosse Ile Township, a town of 10,123 that recorded only 2 violent crimes and 15 property crimes in the latest year for which data is available. These excellent numbers render the town one of the safest in the nation: top five overall in communities exceeding 10,000 in population.

The second safest community in Michigan is Oakland Township. The community of 19,659 recorded rates of just 0.31 violent crimes and 2.65 property crimes per 1,000 inhabitants. Not far behind is Hamburg Township, a town of 21,714 lodging just 14 violent crimes and 80 property crimes. Brandon Township (#4) and South Lyon (#5) round out the top five. Both are smaller communities with very low crime, characteristic of communities of their size in The Great Lakes State.

New Mexico is a beautiful state: sprawling desert landscapes break into rugged mountain ranges chalk full of snow-capped peaks, stark mesas and other unique geographical features. The cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe are funky and offbeat, merging elements of indigenous cultures with counterculture iconoclasm. Unfortunately, New Mexico is not among the safest of U.S. states: its violent and property crime rates are well above the national averages. Yet, the “Land of Enchantment” has its share of safe communities in which to raise a family.

New Mexico’s safest town is Los Alamos, world famous for being the location of the Manhattan Project and the birthplace of the atomic bomb. Los Alamos’ violent crime rate of just over 1 reported incident per 1,000 and rate of 7.87 property crimes per 1,000 are excellent, well below both the state and national averages. Sunland Park (#2), located in Doña Ana County, is of similar size and boasts nearly as impressive low crime rates. Rio Rancho (#3), a city of 95,454, is the third largest in the state and logged a violent crime rate of just 2.25 reported incidents per 1,000 inhabitants.

The Garden State has a lot to be proud of: as of 2017, it is the 3^rd wealthiest in the nation by median household income, in addition to being one of the safest, as New Jersey’s crime rates are far below nationwide averages. New Jersey is home to some of the safest communities in the nation, with crime rates more akin to Japan than the United States. 

Coming in at number one is River Vale Township, a small affluent community of just over 10,000 located in Bergen County. River Vale Township did not log a single violent crime in the latest year for which there is data, and boasts a property crime rate of just 2.59 per 1,000 residents. Neighboring New Milford (#2), slightly larger with a population of 16,804, has crime rates that are almost as low, with 0.12 violent crimes and 2.44 property crimes per 1,000. In fact, none of New Jersey’s top twenty safest cities have a violent crime rate reaching 1 incident per 1,000, or 5 property crimes per 1,000. Those looking for a safe place to raise a family in New Jersey have a slew of options to choose from.