Safest Cities in Washington

In this study, AdvisorSmith used data provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on reported crimes in the state of Washington to discover the safest communities in the state. Using data on crimes reported by cities and law enforcement within the state, we calculated a crime score for each city based upon the number of reported crimes and the mix of crimes committed in each city. Our crime score weights more severe crimes such as rape and murder more compared with property crimes.

In total, we examined crime reports from 180 cities within the state of Washington. This included 94 small cities with fewer than 10,000 residents, 61 midsize cities with between 10,000 and 50,000 residents, and 25 large cities with over 50,000 residents. The average crime score statewide was 46.

Safest Large Cities in Washington

Among large cities in the State of Washington with over 50,000 residents, the average crime score was 64. Crime scores ranged between 10 and 127 for large cities in the state.

The safest large city in Washington was Sammamish. Located on the east bank of Lake Sammamish, the city is perched on a plateau. The city has one of the highest median incomes in the nation for a city of its size. Sammamish offers a low-density, suburban lifestyle, and it also has excellent public schools.

The large city with the most reported crime in Washington was Spokane. Located in eastern Washington along the Spokane River, the city was historically an important rail center for the western United States. Later, industries such as mining, logging, and agriculture became more important for the city. 

Rank	City	Violent Crimes per 1,000 Residents	Property Crimes per 1,000 Residents	Crime Score
1	Sammamish	1.7	6.0	9.9
2	Kirkland	5.1	19.8	31.5
3	Shoreline	6.1	19.3	34.9
4	Redmond	3.9	26.6	36.2
5	Marysville	8.7	19.8	40.1
6	Bellevue	5.4	28.4	40.7
7	Richland	10.3	20.5	41.1
8	Pasco	10.8	17.4	41.9
9	Lacey	9.3	27.7	49.4
10	Bellingham	10.4	29.3	54.7
11	Kennewick	14.1	29.6	61.4
12	Burien	10.1	33.3	62.4
13	Everett	10.9	35.5	63.3
14	Renton	8.4	40.4	66.3
15	Federal Way	12.1	42.5	73.0
16	Yakima	20.9	28.9	74.4
17	Spokane Valley	13.8	44.2	74.9
18	Auburn	15.4	35.3	75.8
19	Olympia	16.3	34.8	77.0
20	Kent	16.5	39.7	77.7
21	Vancouver	18.9	32.4	79.9
22	Seattle	16.6	45.0	92.8
23	Lakewood	24.0	37.7	102.9
24	Tacoma	20.3	52.2	118.0
25	Spokane	29.5	59.2	127.5

Safest Midsize Cities in Washington

Camas was the safest midsize city in the state of Washington. Camas is a suburb of Portland, Oregon, and is situated on the Washington side of the Columbia River. The city is named after the camas lily, a local plant native to North America. Originally, the city’s economy was based on the paper mill industry. Today, several technology companies have established offices in Camas.

The average crime score for midsize cities in Washington was 49. The range of crime scores was between 15 and 234 for midsize cities in the state. Midsize cities consisted of those with between 10,000 and 50,000 residents.

Rank	City	Violent Crimes per 1,000 Residents	Property Crimes per 1,000 Residents	Crime Score
1	Camas	2.6	9.1	14.6
2	Bainbridge Island	3.5	9.0	15.0
3	Maple Valley	2.5	11.2	17.1
4	Mercer Island	1.1	14.0	17.2
5	Lake Forest Park	1.9	14.3	17.3
6	Snoqualmie	3.0	12.0	17.3
7	Kenmore	3.4	10.3	18.3
8	Oak Harbor	5.5	5.7	19.1
9	West Richland	6.9	6.7	19.8
10	Pullman	5.3	7.9	20.9
11	Lake Stevens	5.1	8.3	21.1
12	Liberty Lake	3.4	15.0	22.1
13	East Wenatchee	5.7	13.4	22.2
14	Mill Creek	4.4	13.6	22.3
15	Newcastle	2.2	16.3	23.4
16	Enumclaw	6.2	17.4	26.4
17	Mukilteo	4.9	16.2	27.1
18	Lynden	4.8	17.4	27.9
19	Battle Ground	2.9	20.8	29.2
20	Woodinville	4.8	20.7	29.6
21	Sedro Woolley	7.5	18.0	30.3
22	Washougal	6.6	14.4	30.8
23	Grandview	9.3	18.2	32.4
24	Bonney Lake	6.1	16.8	32.8
25	Edgewood	7.3	16.9	34.8
26	Anacortes	6.4	22.1	34.9
27	Issaquah	3.7	28.0	35.1
28	University Place	6.7	15.9	37.6
29	Edmonds	6.2	21.1	38.4
30	Snohomish	7.7	23.5	39.0
31	Ferndale	7.8	16.7	39.1
32	Wenatchee	10.1	18.5	39.5
33	Mountlake Terrace	9.4	21.6	40.7
34	Poulsbo	7.9	23.8	42.3
35	Covington	6.6	26.8	42.6
36	Bothell	7.0	33.2	46.9
37	Mount Vernon	9.9	31.4	50.3
38	Gig Harbor	4.8	40.9	52.9
39	Ellensburg	9.8	30.6	53.0
40	Sunnyside	14.6	32.1	54.5
41	Tumwater	10.4	26.8	54.6
42	Monroe	9.0	28.5	55.5
43	Des Moines	9.7	30.8	55.8
44	Cheney	20.3	16.1	56.9
45	Arlington	12.4	35.1	60.8
46	Longview	18.4	28.8	63.7
47	Walla Walla	12.4	31.8	65.3
48	Moses Lake	13.6	34.0	66.2
49	Kelso	19.8	31.7	68.8
50	Sumner	10.9	43.9	73.7
51	Lynnwood	10.8	47.8	74.6
52	Seatac	13.5	37.2	76.1
53	Port Orchard	18.5	33.5	76.3
54	Centralia	18.6	38.1	77.1
55	Puyallup	11.6	51.4	80.2
56	Bremerton	27.2	32.6	82.5
57	Aberdeen	24.5	40.9	93.0
58	Port Angeles	23.0	35.6	95.1
59	Shelton	17.4	55.9	106.4
60	Fife	24.8	64.3	131.2
61	Tukwila	26.6	163.9	234.5

Safest Small Cities in Washington

The safest small city in Washington State was Colville, located in the eastern portion of the state. Originally established as a fort city, the city also later hosted an Air Force radar station. The city’s economy is largely based on agriculture and timber.

Below, we list the safest small cities in Washington, which consist of cities with less than 10,000 population. The chart below shows each city’s rank, crime score, and the level of violent and property crimes adjusted for population. The crime scores for small cities ranged from 7 to 123, with an average crime score of 40.

Rank	City	Violent Crimes per 1,000 Residents	Property Crimes per 1,000 Residents	Crime Score
1	Colville	6.9	0.0	6.9
2	South Bend	8.7	0.8	9.5
3	White Salmon	3.2	8.6	11.8
4	Clyde Hill	0.9	11.1	11.9
5	Napavine	8.1	4.1	12.2
6	Yarrow Point	2.6	10.3	12.9
7	Brewster	5.8	7.3	13.1
8	Duvall	2.8	5.6	13.3
9	Everson	3.8	9.0	14.0
10	Mattawa	0.6	14.2	14.9
11	Morton	5.1	10.1	15.2
12	Moxee	8.2	5.1	15.4
13	Brier	4.0	9.6	15.6
14	Ocean Shores	7.1	5.8	16.2
15	Medina	0.6	15.9	16.5
16	Asotin	0.0	17.3	17.3
17	Black Diamond	6.1	8.2	18.1
18	Tieton	4.6	13.7	18.2
19	Winlock	1.9	12.5	19.2
20	Twisp	6.8	12.4	19.2
21	Montesano	6.9	9.2	19.8
22	Woodway	1.0	19.1	20.0
23	Ridgefield	5.1	8.3	20.3
24	Chewelah	6.4	12.3	20.6
25	Sumas	3.9	7.8	20.6
26	Zillah	1.3	20.2	21.5
27	Normandy Park	3.3	18.5	23.1
28	Connell	6.2	6.8	24.6
29	Kalama	7.1	11.8	24.8
30	La Center	8.1	12.3	25.0
31	Dupont	4.1	12.7	27.2
32	Long Beach	10.8	12.5	27.5
33	Selah	6.7	15.7	27.6
34	College Place	4.3	17.1	27.7
35	Carnation	5.8	5.8	28.4
36	Tenino	7.5	13.9	29.4
37	Orting	6.8	14.9	29.7
38	Fircrest	6.4	14.3	29.9
39	Sultan	8.5	13.9	30.0
40	Raymond	8.4	10.4	30.2
41	Steilacoom	8.3	12.0	30.4
42	Newport	5.6	20.4	30.6
43	Kettle Falls	13.3	10.7	30.7
44	Pacific	6.9	18.5	31.3
45	Royal City	9.4	14.1	32.8
46	Quincy	6.9	18.1	33.1
47	Othello	12.3	17.3	34.7
48	Toledo	11.8	23.5	35.3
49	North Bend	4.5	27.2	36.2
50	Algona	6.0	17.5	36.3
51	Coulee Dam	12.2	24.4	36.6
52	Prosser	11.9	19.4	36.8
53	Mossyrock	14.8	22.2	37.1
54	Buckley	12.1	13.9	37.2
55	Stanwood	8.9	21.1	37.5
56	Castle Rock	16.6	18.8	37.5
57	Ilwaco	20.7	5.5	40.0
58	Reardan	22.7	17.6	40.3
59	Granite Falls	11.9	16.7	41.0
60	Gold Bar	8.9	16.9	41.4
61	Bingen	16.2	16.2	41.4
62	Warden	11.5	19.2	42.6
63	Blaine	15.4	14.6	43.1
64	Darrington	22.4	7.7	44.1
65	Hoquiam	14.8	22.0	44.2
66	Cle Elum	9.4	25.8	44.8
67	Oroville	5.7	15.7	48.6
68	Forks	17.7	16.7	49.4
69	Elma	22.0	17.3	51.6
70	Ritzville	12.8	34.7	52.9
71	Port Townsend	12.1	17.6	53.9
72	Beaux Arts	18.1	36.3	54.4
73	Woodland	10.8	32.1	56.0
74	Index	0.0	56.1	56.1
75	Eatonville	12.7	10.1	56.5
76	Oakville	15.5	17.4	59.9
77	Ruston	11.7	45.6	63.2
78	Soap Lake	14.3	36.6	63.2
79	Milton	8.6	30.6	64.3
80	Sequim	9.1	41.6	64.4
81	Roy	14.5	14.5	65.2
82	Westport	19.2	30.8	66.8
83	Goldendale	14.8	41.3	70.1
84	Yelm	13.2	40.2	70.7
85	Grand Coulee	13.5	29.8	72.2
86	Ephrata	12.4	47.7	72.3
87	Airway Heights	13.1	42.7	73.3
88	Skykomish	26.7	53.3	80.0
89	Clarkston	21.1	42.4	80.9
90	Chehalis	22.5	49.1	87.5
91	Burlington	14.8	64.8	93.7
92	Winthrop	13.1	21.9	100.7
93	Toppenish	18.8	60.9	113.2
94	Union Gap	14.9	94.1	122.5

Methodology

To find the safest cities in the state of Washington, we studied data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This dataset, Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, contains an accounting of reported violent and property crimes as recorded by cities and law enforcement agencies across the state of Washington. Crimes reported in this dataset include rape, robbery, murder, assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. We used data from the most recent publication of the dataset, which details reported crimes from the calendar year 2019.

The safest cities in Washington were determined by tabulating the number of reported crimes in each city. We applied a multiplier to different types of crimes in order to account for each crime’s severity. For example, murder received a higher multiplier than larceny, as it is a more serious crime. We summed the weighted value of crimes for each city and adjusted this value for the population in each city to find a crime score for each city.

To complete our analysis, we segmented the cities in the State of Washington into one of three groups based upon each city’s population. Washington cities with 10,000 or fewer residents were considered small cities. Cities with between 10,000 and 50,000 residents were considered midsize cities, and cities with over 50,000 residents were considered large cities. We ranked cities within their population subgroups to find the safest cities in Washington.

Sources

1. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting, Return A, 2019