San Diego County Cities Drop In Ranking Of Safest In America: Report

SAN DIEGO, CA — Three San Diego County cities dropped in a new ranking of the safest cities in America, with one falling 85 spots from last year.

Chula Vista ranked 34th, Oceanside ranked 58th and San Diego ranked 124th in WalletHub's 2026 Safest Cities in America report, released Monday.

All three cities ranked higher in 2025, when Chula Vista placed 23rd, San Diego ranked 39th and Oceanside ranked 49th.

Researchers at the personal finance website compared 182 cities across three categories: home and community safety, natural-disaster risk and financial safety. The rankings were based on 41 measures, including traffic fatalities, assaults per capita, unemployment rates and the percentage of residents without health insurance.

Chula Vista was the only San Diego County city to rank among the nation's 50 safest cities this year.

Here's how the three cities scored in the 2026 report:

Chula Vista

• Overall Rank: 34
• Total Score: 63.76
• Home and Community Safety Rank: 31
• Natural-Disaster Risk Rank: 61
• Financial Safety Rank: 94

Oceanside

• Overall Rank: 58
• Total Score: 61.12
• Home and Community Safety Rank: 54
• Natural-Disaster Risk Rank: 61
• Financial Safety Rank: 96

San Diego

• Overall Rank: 124
• Total Score: 53.77
• Home and Community Safety Rank: 134
• Natural-Disaster Risk Rank: 61
• Financial Safety Rank: 87

Nationwide, Juneau, Alaska, ranked as the safest city, followed by Warwick, Rhode Island, and Overland Park, Kansas, according to the report. Nationally, New Orleans, Louisiana, ranked as the least safe city, followed by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Baltimore, Maryland, according to the report.

Read the full report.