Safest Cities in Pennsylvania

Top 50 safest cities in Pennsylvania ranked by lowest violent crime rate per 100,000 residents. Includes cities with 10,000+ population.

FBI UCR Safest-Cities Snapshot: Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's 50 safest cities for 2024 rank from Douglass Township, Montgomery County (violent crime rate 0/100K) at the top of the list to South Park Township (violent crime rate 36.7/100K) at the bottom of this top-50 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 50 cities is 22.1 per 100,000 residents, well below the US national benchmark commonly cited in the 350–400 range.

At the top of the list, Douglass Township, Montgomery County recorded 0 violent crimes and 19 property crimes against a reporting population of 10,935 in 2024. That works out to a property crime rate of 173.8 per 100,000 residents alongside the 0/100K violent rate, both well below typical US municipal benchmarks. The top five safest Pennsylvania cities on this list are Douglass Township, Montgomery County, Logan Township, South Lebanon Township, Upper Uwchlan Township, West Manheim Township, 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. Pennsylvania 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
Douglass Township, Montgomery County
Lowest Violent Rate
0/100K
Avg. Violent Rate
22.1/100K
Cities Listed
50
# Grade City Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
1 A+ Douglass Township, Montgomery County 10,935 0/100K 173.8/100K
2 A Logan Township 12,101 0/100K 1388.3/100K
3 A+ South Lebanon Township 10,598 0/100K 160.4/100K
4 A+ Upper Uwchlan Township 13,625 0/100K 271.6/100K
5 A+ West Manheim Township 10,755 0/100K 483.5/100K
6 A+ Hampton Township 17,771 11.3/100K 348.9/100K
7 A+ Cranberry Township 34,970 11.4/100K 700.6/100K
8 A+ Adams Township, Butler County 15,861 12.6/100K 31.5/100K
9 A+ Penn Township, Westmoreland County 20,744 14.5/100K 28.9/100K
10 A+ Whitpain Township 20,451 14.7/100K 660.1/100K
11 A+ Franconia Township 13,488 14.8/100K 392.9/100K
12 A+ Middletown Township 45,516 15.4/100K 448.2/100K
13 A+ Westtown-East Goshen Regional 29,610 16.9/100K 351.2/100K
14 A+ Forks Township 16,568 18.1/100K 567.4/100K
15 A+ Lower Salford Township 16,255 18.5/100K 363/100K
16 A+ Buckingham Township 20,736 19.3/100K 400.3/100K
17 A+ Northampton Township 39,879 20.1/100K 293.4/100K
18 A+ East Cocalico Township 14,775 20.3/100K 487.3/100K
19 A+ Warwick Township, Bucks County 14,703 20.4/100K 367.3/100K
20 A+ Upper Macungie Township 29,196 20.6/100K 530.9/100K
21 A+ Plumstead Township 14,391 20.8/100K 528.1/100K
22 A Haverford Township 50,544 21.8/100K 1026.8/100K
23 A+ Upper Saucon Township 17,864 22.4/100K 503.8/100K
24 A+ Hampden Township 35,576 22.5/100K 238.9/100K
25 A+ Warrington Township 26,355 22.8/100K 743.7/100K
26 A+ New Holland 12,898 23.3/100K 759.8/100K
27 A+ Murrysville 20,674 24.2/100K 232.2/100K
28 A Upper St. Clair Township 20,399 24.5/100K 1201/100K
29 A+ Horsham Township 27,268 25.7/100K 836.1/100K
30 A+ Newtown Township, Delaware County 15,345 26.1/100K 345.4/100K
31 A+ Cecil Township 15,206 26.3/100K 217/100K
32 A+ Lower Providence Township 25,975 26.9/100K 546.7/100K
33 A+ Nether Providence Township 14,449 27.7/100K 539.8/100K
34 A+ Doylestown Township 18,000 27.8/100K 577.8/100K
35 A+ Upper Providence Township, Delaware County 10,762 27.9/100K 130.1/100K
36 A+ Northampton 10,414 28.8/100K 364.9/100K
37 A+ Upper Gwynedd Township 17,273 28.9/100K 567.4/100K
38 A Marple Township 24,044 29.1/100K 1039.8/100K
39 A Ephrata 34,010 29.4/100K 902.7/100K
40 A+ Lower Makefield Township 33,400 29.9/100K 571.9/100K
41 A+ Newtown Township, Bucks County 22,933 30.5/100K 523.3/100K
42 A+ West Earl Township 12,547 31.9/100K 271/100K
43 A+ New Britain Township 12,260 32.6/100K 505.7/100K
44 A+ Towamencin Township 17,925 33.5/100K 591.4/100K
45 A+ Hilltown Township 17,863 33.6/100K 722.2/100K
46 A+ South Heidelberg Township 14,489 34.5/100K 393.4/100K
47 A+ Northwest Lancaster County Regional 19,987 35/100K 195.1/100K
48 A+ Whitemarsh Township 19,963 35.1/100K 711.3/100K
49 A+ New Hanover Township 13,694 36.5/100K 328.6/100K
50 A+ South Park Township 13,630 36.7/100K 418.2/100K

Top Safest Cities in Pennsylvania

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What city in Pennsylvania has the lowest crime rate?
Douglass Township, Montgomery County, PA has the lowest violent crime rate among Pennsylvania cities with 10,000+ population in this ranking, at 0 per 100,000 residents for 2024, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program data.
What is the safest area to live in Pennsylvania?
Based on FBI UCR violent-crime rates, Douglass Township, Montgomery County ranks safest among Pennsylvania cities with 10,000+ population. The top 5 are Douglass Township, Montgomery County, Logan Township, South Lebanon Township, Upper Uwchlan Township, West Manheim Township. Smaller towns below the population threshold aren't included since low incident counts make their per-capita rates statistically unstable.
Is Pennsylvania safe?
Pennsylvania's 50 safest ranked cities average a violent crime rate of 22.1 per 100,000 residents, which is below 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 Pennsylvania 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.