Kansas’ less-than-impressive crime figures might be a little surprising considering Kansas’ reputation for decency and modesty, though it isn’t close to matching the most crime plagued states. Kansas’ safest community is Prairie Village, a town of 21,958 that is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Prairie Village’s low number of 11 violent crimes gives it an average of only 0.5 violent crimes per 1,000, and its rate of 10.11 property crimes per 1,000 is equally impressive.
Leawood (#2), which, like Prairie Village, is located in Johnson County, earned noteworthy rates of 0.85 violent crimes and 11.27 property crimes per 1,000. Lansing (#3) and Andover (#4) are both small towns with populations of under 13K. The former is another suburb of Kansas City while the latter is a suburb of Wichita. Both boast rates of less than 2 violent crimes per 1,000 occupants. Rounding out the top five is Overland, a much larger city of 189,104 that nevertheless posted very low crime rates.
1. PRAIRIE VILLAGE
2. LEAWOOD
3. LANSING
4. ANDOVER
5. OVERLAND PARK
Kansas' Safest Cities
| City | Rank | Population | Violent crime | Property crime | Violent per 1,000 | Property per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Village | 1 | 21,958 | 11 | 222 | 0.50 | 10.11 |
| Leawood | 2 | 35,139 | 30 | 396 | 0.85 | 11.27 |
| Lansing | 3 | 11,860 | 21 | 125 | 1.77 | 10.54 |
| Andover | 4 | 12,937 | 15 | 204 | 1.16 | 15.77 |
| Overland Park | 5 | 189,104 | 376 | 2,803 | 1.99 | 14.82 |
| Olathe | 6 | 135,977 | 222 | 2,127 | 1.63 | 15.64 |
| Lenexa | 7 | 53,376 | 70 | 921 | 1.31 | 17.25 |
| Shawnee | 8 | 65,603 | 133 | 1,175 | 2.03 | 17.91 |
| Derby | 9 | 23,708 | 22 | 539 | 0.93 | 22.73 |
| Emporia | 10 | 24,601 | 35 | 575 | 1.42 | 23.37 |
| Hays | 11 | 21,206 | 67 | 443 | 3.16 | 20.89 |
| Haysville | 12 | 11,288 | 18 | 295 | 1.59 | 26.13 |
| El Dorado | 13 | 12,913 | 23 | 346 | 1.78 | 26.79 |
| Junction City | 14 | 24,780 | 175 | 513 | 7.06 | 20.70 |
| Ottawa | 15 | 12,334 | 47 | 341 | 3.81 | 27.65 |
| Dodge City | 16 | 27,997 | 99 | 869 | 3.54 | 31.04 |
| Winfield | 17 | 12,176 | 38 | 394 | 3.12 | 32.36 |
| Garden City | 18 | 27,038 | 139 | 837 | 5.14 | 30.96 |
| Newton | 19 | 19,226 | 99 | 611 | 5.15 | 31.78 |
| Atchison | 20 | 10,654 | 38 | 381 | 3.57 | 35.76 |
| Arkansas City | 21 | 12,085 | 58 | 439 | 4.80 | 36.33 |
| Great Bend | 22 | 15,661 | 60 | 601 | 3.83 | 38.38 |
| Salina | 23 | 47,805 | 205 | 1,827 | 4.29 | 38.22 |
| Merriam | 24 | 11,337 | 51 | 555 | 4.50 | 48.95 |
| Parsons | 25 | 10,016 | 72 | 470 | 7.19 | 46.92 |
| Topeka | 26 | 127,166 | 711 | 7,148 | 5.59 | 56.21 |
| Wichita | 27 | 391,399 | 4,136 | 21,065 | 10.57 | 53.82 |
METHODOLOGY
To identify the safest cities in Kansas, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics along with our own population data and internal research. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and removed cities with populations under 10,000.
The remaining cities were ranked based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) per 1,000 people. These variables were then weighted, with violent crimes accounting for 1.5 of the total (due to their severity) than property crimes.
