Safest Cities in Louisiana

Top 26 safest cities in Louisiana ranked by lowest violent crime rate per 100,000 residents. Includes cities with 10,000+ population.

FBI UCR Safest-Cities Snapshot: Louisiana

Louisiana's 26 safest cities for 2024 rank from Mandeville (violent crime rate 130.2/100K) at the top of the list to Alexandria (violent crime rate 2713.5/100K) at the bottom of this top-26 selection. Rankings are drawn directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions and include only cities with reporting populations of 10,000 or more residents, which keeps per-capita rate calculations statistically stable. The average violent crime rate across these 26 cities is 747.4 per 100,000 residents, well below the US national benchmark commonly cited in the 350–400 range.

At the top of the list, Mandeville recorded 17 violent crimes and 161 property crimes against a reporting population of 13,053 in 2024. That works out to a property crime rate of 1233.4 per 100,000 residents alongside the 130.2/100K violent rate, both well below typical US municipal benchmarks. The top five safest Louisiana cities on this list are Mandeville, Covington, Broussard, Slidell, Thibodaux, each submitting Part I offense counts to the FBI UCR Program for 2024.

Violent crime rate is used as the primary ranking metric because the four Part I violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) have higher reporting consistency than property offenses, which vary with local policing priorities and insurance-driven reporting. Louisiana cities that missed this list either fell below the 10,000-population threshold, had incomplete 2024 UCR submissions, or were consolidated into county agency totals rather than reporting individually. For context on how the FBI collects and publishes these statistics, consult the UCR Program documentation; agency participation is voluntary and coverage can shift from year to year.

A safest-cities list is only as useful as the data behind it, so a few cautions are worth keeping in mind. The ranking rewards a low violent crime rate per 100,000 residents, the measure most consistent across places of different sizes; property crime is weighted more lightly because it tracks opportunity and reporting habits as much as genuine risk. Small communities can reach the top on the strength of a single quiet year, and a town that simply reports less thoroughly can look safer than one that documents every incident. Treat the order as a starting point for questions rather than a verdict, compare neighboring cities directly, and read the underlying counts before drawing conclusions about where it is genuinely safe to live.

Safest City
Mandeville
Lowest Violent Rate
130.2/100K
Avg. Violent Rate
747.4/100K
Cities Listed
26
# Grade City Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
1 A Mandeville 13,053 130.2/100K 1233.4/100K
2 B Covington 11,641 171.8/100K 1013.7/100K
3 B Broussard 14,906 194.6/100K 2153.5/100K
4 C Slidell 28,449 256.6/100K 2284.8/100K
5 C Thibodaux 15,562 257/100K 2975.2/100K
6 C Zachary 20,142 332.6/100K 2020.7/100K
7 C Kenner 62,377 344.7/100K 2832.8/100K
8 D Gonzales 14,259 364.7/100K 3934.4/100K
9 D Sulphur 19,955 375.8/100K 2916.6/100K
10 C Baker 11,933 402.2/100K 1743.1/100K
11 C Carencro 13,985 414.7/100K 2023.6/100K
12 D Ruston 22,259 426.8/100K 2956.1/100K
13 D Gretna 16,788 428.9/100K 3800.3/100K
14 F Morgan City 10,701 551.4/100K 2831.5/100K
15 F Lake Charles 77,982 613/100K 2469.8/100K
16 F Minden 11,050 796.4/100K 2533.9/100K
17 F Natchitoches 16,945 891.1/100K 4384.8/100K
18 F Bossier City 62,750 913.1/100K 3679.7/100K
19 F New Iberia 26,653 1009.3/100K 3125.4/100K
20 F Lafayette 121,471 1066.1/100K 4347.5/100K
21 F Bogalusa 10,252 1131.5/100K 4213.8/100K
22 F West Monroe 12,368 1156.2/100K 5886.2/100K
23 F Shreveport 175,092 1228.5/100K 3990.5/100K
24 F Opelousas 15,263 1369.3/100K 5018.7/100K
25 F Monroe 46,290 1892.4/100K 5733.4/100K
26 F Alexandria 42,933 2713.5/100K 6596.3/100K

Top Safest Cities in Louisiana

Jump straight into the top five safest Louisiana cities from this ranking, or launch the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What city in Louisiana has the lowest crime rate?
Mandeville, LA has the lowest violent crime rate among Louisiana cities with 10,000+ population in this ranking, at 130.2 per 100,000 residents for 2024, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program data.
What is the safest area to live in Louisiana?
Based on FBI UCR violent-crime rates, Mandeville ranks safest among Louisiana cities with 10,000+ population. The top 5 are Mandeville, Covington, Broussard, Slidell, Thibodaux. Smaller towns below the population threshold aren't included since low incident counts make their per-capita rates statistically unstable.
Is Louisiana safe?
Louisiana's 26 safest ranked cities average a violent crime rate of 747.4 per 100,000 residents, which is near or above the commonly-cited US national average. Safety varies significantly by city; see the full ranking above and each city's individual profile for specifics.

Methodology

Rankings are based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program data for 2024. The violent crime rate is calculated as the number of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) per 100,000 residents. Only cities in Louisiana with a population of 10,000 or more are included. Cities that did not report crime data are excluded.

Source: FBI Crime in the United States, Table 8. Population figures cross-check against U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI populations are unavailable. Data reflects reported offenses and may not capture all criminal activity.