From crime to car accidents, there are many factors that determine whether or not somewhere is a safe place to live. To find out which of America's suburbs are the safest, SmartAsset compared 370 locations — those situated within a 15- to 45-minute-drive of the 100 largest US cities, with at least 5,000 residents — on metrics such as violent crime rate and number of deadly traffic accidents.
They also analyzed the safest suburbs to see which are the most affordable.
Key Findings:
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Great Falls, Virginia, ranks first as the safest community overall. The affluent Washington, DC, suburb has the second-lowest violent crime rate in the country (6.81 per 100,000 residents) and the eighth-lowest vehicle mortality rate (4.35 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents).
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When it comes to both safety and affordability, Indianapolis suburbs score well. Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville place second, fourth and fifth on the safest suburbs ranking, and are also in the top ten for affordability, along with Brownsburg.
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If you're particularly concerned about road safety, a suburb in the Boston area might be a good bet. Lexington, Somerville and Chelsea have the first, second and fourth-lowest rates of fatal car accidents in the country. Several suburbs in Washington, DC, NYC and Minneapolis also rank highly for this metric.
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Suburbs with low violent crime rates are predominantly located in the midwest. Edgerton, Wisconsin; Great Falls, Virginia; Mason and Canal Winchester, Ohio; Key Biscayne, Florida; Northbrook and Orland Park, Illinois; West University Place, Texas; Vail, Arizona; and Fort Wright, Kentucky, see just 35 (or fewer) violent crimes for every 100,000 people.
Via SmartAsset.
[Image credit: Michael Tuszynski]