GA has 4 of the safest suburbs in the US, study shows. 2 are in the top 10

Georgia has some of the safest suburbs in America, according to financial technology company SmartAsset. Out of the 360 suburbs surveyed, Georgia has four ranked within the top 100 and two in the top 10.

The ranking looked at crime, traffic safety and health factors to identify communities where residents can feel most secure. The results highlight which communities offer not only safety, but also healthier lifestyles, giving homebuyers and renters valuable insight to the area.

What makes a “suburb?”

There’s no single definition of a “suburb,” and the way it’s defined can shift the picture entirely.

According to Harvard University, those definitions shape conclusions about demographics, housing, poverty, voting patterns and policy outcomes.

Still, certain themes tend to run through most interpretations:

• Suburbanisms:  the ways of life, social patterns, and cultural norms typically associated with living in suburbs
• Census-convenient: everything inside a metro but outside principal city boundaries
• Typologies: categorizes by era of housing and density 

The Harvard report suggests that suburbs appear whiter, wealthier, more car-reliant and more dominated by detached single-family homes and are often newer and higher income.

For this survey SmartAsset used geographical proximity to large cities as a way to designate a city as suburban, but there are varying methods used to define them.

How is “safety” measured?

To find the safest suburbs, SmartAsset compared data for 360 places that are within 15 to 45 minutes of the 100 largest U.S. cities by car, that have at least 5,000 residents.

The following metrics were used:

• Crime rates: Violent and property crime per capita
• Traffic safety: Traffic deaths per 100,000 populationHealth factors: Rates of excessive drinking among adults

Data was compiled from the FBI’s 2023 Uniform Crime Reporting Database and the 2025 County Health Rankings to help compile a comprehensive profile for each suburb.

The safest GA suburbs

Georgia

Out of the 360 cities surveyed, this is how the Georgia suburbs ranked, including the per capita statistics for violent crime, property crime and adults reporting excessive drinking.

• 5 - Dacula
• 6 - Buford
• 20 - Canton 
• 63 - Acworth
• 79 - Decatur
• 88 - Alpharetta
• 96 - Marietta 
• 102 - St. Marys
• 125 - Roswell
• 138 - Stone Mountain
• 243 - Chamblee

The United States

The 10 safest

• 1 - Lehi, Utah
• 2- Bethesda, Maryland
• 3 - Great Falls, Virginia
• 4 - Rockville, Maryland
• 5 - Dacula, Georgia
• 6 -  Buford, Georgia
• 7 - Layton, Utah
• 8 - Edgewater, New Jersey
• 9 - McKinney, Texas
• 10 - Frisco Texas

The 10 least safe

• 360 - Lumberton, North Carolina
• 359 - Plymouth, Massachusetts
• 358 - Petersburg, Virginia
• 357 - Asheboro, North Carolina
• 356 - Dunn, North Carolina
• 355 - Pineville, North Carolina
• 354 - Hopewell, Virginia
• 353 - Clinton, North Carolina
• 352 - Senatobia, Mississippi 
• 351 - Colonial Heights, Virginia
• 350 - Niagara Falls, New York

While the rankings highlight a handful of Georgia suburbs as among the nation’s safest, the findings are tied to specific measures of crime, traffic safety, and health.

These numbers offer just one perspective on suburban life, but they don’t capture the full picture of what it means to feel safe in a community. Do you have thoughts on these statistics? Email me at srose@ledger-enquirer.com or find me on social media.