Connecticut’s 20 Safest Cities of 2021
The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the seventh annual Safest Cities report.
Here are the 10 Safest Cities in Connecticut for 2021
1. Newtown
2. Ridgefield
3. Simsbury
4. Westport
5. Wallingford
6. Cheshire
7. Greenwich
8. New Milford
9. Shelton
10. Guilford
See if your city made the full list.
While 48% of Connecticuters are highly concerned about their safety on a daily basis, The Constitution State sees violent and property crime rates well below national and regional averages.
2021 Connecticut crime rates
Other big concerns in Connecticut include package theft and COVID-19. In general, Connecticut residents are less concerned than other states about issues like violent crime and gun violence.
Level of concern and experience with crime in Connecticut
Concerns in Connecticut change from year to year in our survey. This year, package theft is the biggest concern for those who call Connecticut home. And it makes sense considering 22% of our survey respondents experienced package theft.
Crime concerns in Connecticut
We asked Connecticut residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Connecticuters are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.
View the complete 2021 State of Safety report.
Violent crime in Connecticut: Fear vs. reality
Connecticut sees some of the lowest violent crime rates in the nation, yet 38% of survey respondents said it was their top concern. Violent crime in Connecticut is just higher than its neighboring states New Hampshire and Maine.
- The Constitution State saw over 6,500 violent crimes in 2020, which is 0.5% of violent crime nationwide.
- While 61% of survey respondents from Connecticut said crime is increasing, violent crime has decreased year over year since 2019.
- Over half (57%) of violent crime in Connecticut was aggravated assault.
- Incidents of rape accounted for 23.2% of violent crime in the safest cities.
- Ridgefield, our number 2 pick, saw only one incident of violent crime in the last year.
- Only 3 of the safest cities saw cases of murder and negligent manslaughter. And 5 of the 20 safest cities saw violent crime rates under 10 incidents.
- Though Danbury had the most violent crime in the last year, its year-over-year violent crime rate dropped from 1.5 to 1.1.
- There were 7 officer-involved gun violence incidents in 2020 (down from 10 in 2019) and 7 mass shooting incidents, up from 3 in 2019.
- 52% of Connecticuters said they’re concerned about gun violence in general while 32% are concerned they’ll be involved in an incident.
- 40% are concerned about police violence while 60% of Connecticut residents have confidence in law enforcement.
- Despite a higher concern about safety on a daily basis, only 24% of folks in Connecticut use some form of personal protection like pepper spray or stun guns.
- 45% of Connecticut residents say their personal safety has been affected by the pandemic.
Property crime in Connecticut: Fear vs. reality
Like violent crime, property crime in Connecticut has continued to drop since 2019. With a crime rate of 14.3 per 1,000 people, Connecticut is well below the national average for crimes like burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.
- 13.2% of property crimes in Connecticut happen within the 20 safest cities.
- Larceny-theft is the most common property crime in Connecticut, accounting for 75.6% of the property crimes in the state.
- 17 of the 20 safest cities saw under 500 property crimes in the last year.
- Wallingford saw the biggest improvement in property crime rates, dropping from 13.4 incidents per 1,000 people to 6.5.
- 52% of Connecticut residents use some form of property protection with 27% favoring security systems.
- 21% of survey respondents said the safety of their property has been affected by the pandemic.
A closer look at the safest cities in Connecticut
For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.
- Newtown and Ridgefield (the top two cities) swapped places this year. Newton dropped its property crime incidents from 4.4 per 1,000 people to 2.1.
- Newtown reported only one robbery in the last year and five aggravated assaults.
- Simsbury saw only three violent crimes in the last year.
- Wallingford saw the biggest improvement over the last year, jumping 8 places to number 5.
- New Milford, Groton Town, and Danbury hold the same spots from last year.
- Due to a slight rise in property crime, Middletown saw the biggest drop of the towns in our list, going from last year’s rank 11 to this year’s 18.
- All the safest cities had property/violent crime rates below the national average.
- Branford had the highest property crime rate in the last year at 13.8 per 1,000 people.
The 20 Safest Cities in Connecticut
Population27,795
Median Income$108,667
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.2, 0.2, 0.4![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20192.1, 4.4, 3.4
-
Population25,050
-
Median Income$130,091
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.0, 0.0, 0.0
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20192.9, 2.5, 4.4
-
Population25,169
-
Median Income$109,823
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.1, 0.2, 0.2
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20195.8, 6.0, 6.7
-
Population28,332
-
Median Income$187,988
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.1, 0.1, 0.2
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20196.8, 8.5, 10.6
-
Population44,457
-
Median Income$75,533
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.4, 0.7, 0.6
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20196.5, 13.4, 13.9
-
Population29,167
-
Median Income$107,716
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.4, 0.2, 0.1
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20197.1, 8.3, 6.0
-
Population62,905
-
Median Income$97,616
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.3, 0.1, 0.3
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20197.5, 6.3, 7.5
-
Population26,835
-
Median Income$55,944
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.6, 0.7, 1.0
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20196.7, 9.8, 10.1
-
Population41,287
-
Median Income$94,446
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.5, 0.6, 0.7
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20197.4, 6.9, 9.5
-
Population22,194
-
Median Income$99,441
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.5, 0.5, 0.2
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20199.1, 14.4, 11.9
-
Population34,497
-
Median Income$108,157
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.6, 0.6, 0.7
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 20199.5, 13.2, 14.6
-
Population29,318
-
Median Income$60,556
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.5, 0.7, 0.8
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201910.5, 12.5, 12.5
-
Population26,097
-
Median Income$94,217
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.5, 0.5, 0.5
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201912.7, 13.8, 17.2
-
Population43,886
-
Median Income$81,285
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.6, 0.7, 0.7
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201912.4, 16.7, 16.7
-
Population28,002
-
Median Income$71,058
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.3, 0.6, 0.6
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201913.8, 16.9, 19.8
-
Population29,046
-
Median Income$60,157
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20191.2, 1.3, 1.2
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201910.5, 13.0, 15.7
-
Population33,972
-
Median Income$63,576
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20191.1, 1.3, 1.6
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201911.0, 16.4, 16.2
-
Population45,963
-
Median Income$67,651
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.8, 0.8, 1.1
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201913.3, 12.6, 15.7
-
Population85,167
-
Median Income$71,672
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20191.1, 1.5, 1.9
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201912.3, 13.6, 12.9
-
Population26,009
-
Median Income$83,391
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20190.9, 0.9, 1.1
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201913.5, 14.7, 14.8
How we determined the safest cities
Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.
How to make a safe home anywhere
Whether your city made our list or not, we encourage everyone to be proactive about home security. Learn more about your home security options—and find out which companies we recommend for every budget and lifestyle in our roundup of the Best Home Security Systems.
Didn't find your city in the top 20?
We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population. See how the remaining cities ranked in the list below.
NOTE: If you don’t see your city on the list, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2019.
Find the safest cities in each state
Click on the state image or dropdown menu below to check out the safest cities for each state.
Related articles on SafeWise
Sources
FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting Program, “2019 Crime in the United States,” Accessed March 15, 2021.
US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed November 18, 2020.
Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 6, 2021.
SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 15, 2021.
Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 6, 2021.
Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 15, 2021.
Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 15, 2021.
For definitions and more on data sources, see our methodology page.
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