Nevada’s 6 Safest Cities of 2021
The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the seventh annual Safest Cities report.
Here are the 6 Safest Cities in Nevada for 2021
1. Henderson
2. Sparks
3. Reno
4. Elko
5. North Las Vegas
6. Las Vegas
See if your city made the full list.
Nevada reports higher daily concern about crime and safety than most of the country. In fact, The Silver State is the fourth-most-concerned state in the nation, with six in 10 people worrying about their safety every day. On the flip side, only four in 10 Nevadans feel safe in their state.
2021 Nevada crime rates
Although Nevada’s crime rates are higher than national averages, both violent and property crime have been declining. Between 2019 and 2021, the state’s violent crime rate fell more than 12% from 5.6 incidents per 1,000 to 4.9.
Property crime dropped from 26.3 incidents per 1,000 in 2019 to 23.2 this year—a cumulative decrease of nearly 12%. Nevada’s property crime rate is also slightly lower than the Mountain Region, but it comes in with the fifth-highest rate among the eight states in that region.
Despite a downward trend in crime rates statewide, 72% of Nevadans think crime is rising. Across the country, only 66% believe crime is on the rise.
Level of concern and experience with crime in Nevada
Nevadans expressed higher daily concern about every crime and safety category than most of the US. Those higher numbers didn’t translate to actual experience with crime, though.
Nevada came in at or below national averages for all crime experiences except package theft. Nearly one in four Nevadans reported a package theft in the past 12 months, compared to one in five nationwide.
Violent crime experience in The Silver State matches the national average, with 10% of survey respondents reporting an incident in the past year. Both property crime and gun violence experiences were below national averages.
Experience with gun violence over the past 12 months fell 10 percentage points year over year, which makes sense as time puts more distance between Nevadans and the tragic mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay in 2017. Last year’s survey specifically asked about any experience with a mass shooting, which most likely accounted for the larger affirmative response.
Crime concerns in Nevada
We asked Nevada residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Nevadans are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.
View the complete 2021 State of Safety report.
Violent crime in Nevada: Fear vs. reality
Violent crime is the most worrisome crime issue in Nevada, although the state saw drops in both its violent crime rate and the number of survey respondents who experienced a violent crime in the past year.
- Year over year, Nevada’s violent crime rate fell 9% from 5.4 incidents per 1,000 to 4.9.
- Murder makes a smaller percentage of violent crime in Nevada, accounting for 0.9% statewide, compared to 1.4% nationwide.
- Aggravated assault is the most prevalent violent crime in Nevada, making up 63% of all reported incidents, compared to 68% nationally.
- The safest cities in Nevada have a slightly lower violent crime rate—4.8 per capita instead of 4.9 statewide.
- 50% of survey respondents are worried about a gun violence incident happening to them—32% higher than the national average of 38%.
- Mass shooting incidents increased from 3 in 2019 to 4 last year.
- 37% say they use some kind of personal safety protection like pepper spray—3 percentage points higher than the national average.
- 50% say their personal safety has been affected by the pandemic, compared to 44% nationwide.
Property crime in Nevada: Fear vs. reality
Property crime has decreased each of the past three years, but higher-than-average property crime rates keep Nevadans worried about property crime on a daily basis.
- 53% say they worry about becoming a victim of property crime, compared to 42% across the US.
- Property crime experiences fell from 22% last year to 16%.
- The statewide property crime rate dropped from 24.4 incidents per 1,000 to 23.2 year over year.
- In the safest cities, the property crime rate drops to 22.5 incidents per 1,000.
- Larceny-theft makes up 63% of all property crime in Nevada, compared to 73% nationwide.
- Burglaries account for 22% of all property crimes—6 percentage points higher than the national proportion of 16%.
- 7 in 10 survey respondents use some kind of security measure to protect their Nevada property, with most of them (41%) using security cameras.
- 34% think the security of their property has been impacted by the pandemic (US 29%).
A closer look at the safest cities in Nevada
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.
- 12 cities submitted data to the FBI and 6 met our criteria for ranking.
- We didn’t have enough data to rank safest cities in Nevada in 2020, so all cities are “new” to the list this year (and we ranked all 6 cities that met our criteria for ranking).
- Henderson tops our list as the safest city in Nevada, with a violent crime rate of 1.7 incidents per 1,000 people and property crime rate of 17.5.
- Elko reported the fewest crimes (69 violent crimes and 530 property crimes), but it had higher rates of crime per capita, making it the fourth-safest city.
- Only 2 cities have lower violent crime rates than the national average of 3.7: Henderson (1.7) and Elko (3.3).
- 3 cities have lower property crime rates than the national average of 21.1: Henderson (17.5), North Las Vegas (20.4), and Reno (21.0).
- Sparks, Elko, and Henderson all have lower violent crime rates than the state rate of 4.9 incidents per 1,000.
- Elko (the least-populous city on the list) and Las Vegas (the most populous) both have property crime rates that are above the state rate of 23.2 incidents per 1,000 (25.7 and 27.7 respectively).
The 6 Safest Cities in Nevada
Population317,732
Median Income$69,940
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20191.7, 1.9, 1.9![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201917.5, 19.6, 18.3
-
Population106,010
-
Median Income$60,785
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20194.2, 5.0, 4.8
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201922.9, 23.8, 27.0
-
Population254,349
-
Median Income$54,916
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20195.6, 6.5, 6.7
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201921.0, 24.0, 30.9
-
Population20,601
-
Median Income$77,011
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20193.3, 4.6, 3.9
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201925.7, 21.3, 32.0
-
Population249,854
-
Median Income$57,723
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20198.6, 9.7, 10.1
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201920.4, 21.1, 23.9
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Population1,666,803
-
Median Income$56,354
-
VC Rate 2021, 2020, 20195.3, 6.1, 6.2
![Circle Property]()
PC Rate 2021, 2020, 201927.7, 28.4, 29.4
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.
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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