Central Marin Among 100 'Safest Cities' In California: 2020 List

CENTRAL MARIN, CA — Central Marin was ranked among the "100 safest cities" in California, according to a recent report from Safewise, a security product review site. Central Marin — which includes Corte Madera, San Anselmo, Larkspur and Greenbrae — ranked as the 55th safest city in the state this year.

Safewise weighed recent local crime reports against FBI crime statistics from 2018 — the most recent year for which complete information was available.

This year, Danville in Contra Costa County remained at the top of the list as the safest city in California. Neighboring cities Martinez, San Ramon and Oakley were listed among the top 50 in the state for safety.

In Marin County, Novato ranked as the 32nd safest city in the Golden State, while Central Marin ranked 55th and San Rafael ranked 183rd, according to the report.

Safewise said it ranked the cities by comparing U.S. Census Bureau population data with crime statistics submitted by law enforcement agencies to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program in 2018.

Central Marin's ranking was based on a population of 35,033, a violent crime rate of 1.1 per 1,000 residents, and a property crime rate of 20.6 per 1,000 people.

While California requires officials to keep crime statistics, other states do not.

Safewise found 16 percent of Californians have experienced violent crime in the past year, 38 percent have experienced property crime in the past year and 10 percent of people have been impacted by a mass shooting.

A Safewise survey of Californians found nearly six in 10 worry about crime every day and are more concerned about safety than the average American, but crime rates in the Golden State are far below national averages.

More than half of Californians surveyed said they were most worried about a stranger killing them, according to Safewise. Just 36 percent of Americans had the same concern.

Murder constitutes one percent of violent crime incidents in California, according to Safewise. Robbery incidents comprised about a third of all violent crime in California.

When it comes to property crime, seven in 10 Californians worried about break-ins, though larceny-theft comprises 66 percent of all property crimes, according to Safewise.

Six in 10 Americans are also most worried about break-ins.

The Safewise survey was conducted online in September and October 2019 and weighted by demographic information with a margin of error of ±1.4 percent.

Read the full report here.