2 North Texas cities rank among top 10 safest in U.S. for 2025

North Texas residents concerned about the effects of population growth may feel more secure knowing two of the area's biggest cities – Arlington and Fort Worth – have scored top-10 spots on a new ranking of America's safest large cities.

This, on the heels of a separate report declaring Frisco and McKinney among the nation's safest suburbs.

SmartAsset's 2025 report compared 50 of the largest U.S. cities based on their property and violent crime rates, vehicular deaths, drug overdose deaths, and the percentage of the population engaging in "excessive drinking." The report also considered each city's housing affordability and median household income data.

Fort Worth ranked as the third-safest city nationwide, outshined only by the California cities of San Jose (No. 1) and Los Angeles (No. 2). Arlington came in at No. 7 on the list, and No. 8-ranking El Paso was the only other Texas city to make the top 10.

Meanwhile, Dallas only ranked as the 18th safest U.S. city. (More on that in a second.)

According to the report's findings, there were 13,352 violent crimes reported in Fort Worth in 2023, which gives the city a per capita violent crime rate of 0.0137. Fort Worth's property crime per capita is slightly higher, at 0.0349, after 34,136 property crimes were reported during the same one-year period.

Vehicular mortality and drug mortality rates were determined on the county level, meaning they were the same across Fort Worth and Arlington since both cities are located Tarrant County. There have been nearly 11 traffic deaths per 100,000 Tarrant County residents so far in 2025, and about 18 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents. Additionally, just over 18 percent of Tarrant County residents report that they drink heavily.

Here's how SmartAsset broke down Arlington's rank:

• Violent crime per capita: 0.0206
• Violent crimes reported in 2023: 8,214
• Property crime per capita: 0.0359
• Property crimes reported in 2023: 14,318
• Median monthly housing costs: $1,420
• Median household income: $73,519

In 18th-ranked Dallas, about 26,600 violent crimes and nearly 69,500 property crimes were reported in the city in 2023, the report found. Dallas has a per capita violent crime rate of 0.0204, and a property crime rate of 0.0533.

In 2025, there have been 12.5 traffic deaths per 100,000 Dallas County residents, and 20.3 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people. Nearly 19 percent of Dallas County residents reported drinking excessively, the report said.

Three other major Texas cities ranked among the top 30 safest American cities for 2025: Houston (No. 24), Austin (No.28), and San Antonio (No. 29).

"City safety – or lack thereof – can lead to great disparity in quality of life and return on dollars invested by residents, businesses and government alike," the report said.

The top 10 safest American cities in 2025 are:

• No. 1– San Jose, California
• No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
• No. 3 – Fort Worth, Texas
• No. 4 – Omaha, Nebraska
• No. 5 – Virginia Beach, Virginia
• No. 6 – Las Vegas, Nevada
• No. 7 – Arlington, Texas
• No. 8 – El Paso, Texas
• No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
• No. 10 – Raleigh, North Carolina

SmartAsset's report sourced its data from 2025 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, the FBI's 2023 Uniform Crime Reporting Database, and neighborhood analytics database NeighborhoodScout.com. Median monthly housing costs and household income data was sourced from the Census Bureau’s 5-year American Community Survey from 2023.