Murrieta Named Second Safest City in America

How safe do YOU feel when walking around town? Apparently, you should feel pretty comfortable.

That’s because Murrieta has been dubbed the second safest city in America, according to a new report.

The people over at 24/7 Wall Street crunched the numbers provided in the most recent report on violent crimes by the FBI, which are for 2013.

“In addition to crime data, we also reviewed median household income, poverty rates, and educational attainment rates from the 2013 Census Bureau’s American Community Survey,” the authors state.

According to the report, Murrieta falls behind another California city: Irvine. Neighboring Temecula also made the top ten list, coming in at number six.

Here’s the information provided on Murrieta:

• • Violent crimes per 100,000: 65
  • Population: 107,768
  • 2013 murders: 1 (tied-19th lowest)
  • Poverty rate: 8.4% (22nd lowest)
  • Pct. of adults with high school degree: 92.9% (36th highest)

Murrieta reported 38 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people last year, the lowest in the nation. While Murrieta had a higher violent crime rate than Irvine in 2013, the city reported a total of just 70 violent crimes last year, the lowest nominal figure among all large cities. Property crimes were also relatively uncommon, with 1,522 reported per 100,000 people last year, versus a national rate of 2,731 per 100,000 people. Larceny accounted for the bulk of property crimes in Murrieta, with 1,066 incidents reported per 100,000 people. This was still among the lower rates compared with other large U.S. cities. Residents were quite well-off financially. A typical household earned $72,385 in 2013, among the higher incomes among cities reviewed.

And here are the top 10 cities in order, as ranked by 24/7 Wall Street:

1. Irvine
2. Murrieta
3. Cary, North Carolina
4. Naperville, Illinois
5. Frisco, Texas
6. Temecula
7. Gilbert, Arizona
8. Amherst, New York
9. Glendale
10. Sunnyvale

Read the full article on USA Today here.