Several Philly-Area Towns Among Safest In PA, New Analysis Says

A new study that examines the safest cities in every state in the country has been released, and several suburban Philadelphia communities made the list.

The rankings from Safewise are intended to highlight cities with low per capita crime and "ignite conversation and action around how to make all cities and communities safer," the organization said.

The rankings are based on FBI crime data on violent and property crime rates, calculated per 1,000 residents for a fair comparison. Cities must meet reporting and population criteria to be included, and some states may be excluded due to incomplete data, according to Safewise.

In Pennsylvania, the analysis found that the safest community is Cecil Township, a community in Washington County. It's the second year in a row it was ranked first in the survey.

However, several Eastern Pennsylvania towns made the top ten.

The violent crime rate in Pennsylvania is 5.72 incidents per 1,000 people, which is higher than the national average of 4.43. Property crime in The Keystone State increased dramatically in recent years, nearly doubling from 16.5 incidents per 1,000 people in 2024 to 30.36 incidents in this year's report, Safewise said. That's higher than the national property crime rate of 22.89.

The percentage of Pennsylvanians who feel safe in the state fell year over year from 55 percent to 40 percent, according to the analysis. In addition, 66 percent of Pennsylvania residents said they worry about their overall safety and security on a daily basis, which is the highest percentage nationwide.

Here are the top 10 safest communities in Pennsylvania, according to the analysis:

1. Cecil Township
2. Hampden Township
3. Westtown-East Goshen
4. Warwick Township, Bucks County
5. Northern Regional
6. Franklin Park
7. Newtown Township, Bucks County
8. Upper Allen Township
9. Cranberry Township
10. Shaler Township

Here are some other pieces of data the survey determined:

• 2 out of 3 survey respondents reported a high level of concern about violent crime.
• 21 percent of respondents said they personally experienced a violent crime in the 12 months prior to our survey, up from 12 percent the previous year.
• Last year, Pennsylvania residents reported the sixth lowest percentage of violent crime experiences nationwide. This year, they reported the second highest.
• 29 percent of survey respondents use some form of personal protection, including pepper spray, firearms, and pocket knives.
• 44 percent of Pennsylvanians said they personally experienced a package theft in the 12 months prior to our survey, up from 37 percent the year before.
• Concern about package theft rose from 47 percent to 60 percent year over year.
• 23 percent of Pennsylvanians said they experienced a property crime in the 8 months prior to our survey, down from 26 percent the prior year.
• Pennsylvania ranked fifth on our list of the worst states for package theft.

Check out the full analysis by clicking here.