Halloween is the holiday of thrills and chills, but to celebrate the spooky season without any real scares, prioritizing safety during trick-or-treating is paramount.
Whether you’re taking your child for their first candy collection session or are considering trusting the teens with a night out unchaperoned, one question is undoubtedly top of mind:
How safe is my community?
In the following study, we present a list of the top 25 safest cities for trick-or-treating based on factors such as crime rates, pedestrian protections, law enforcement presence, and more.
Key findings:
- Among the top 25 safest cities in the nation for trick-or-treating, seven are in the state of Texas. Specifically, both the Dallas metropolitan area and the Houston metropolitan area are home to some of the safest cities for trick-or-treating.
- Elsewhere, the Phoenix metropolitan area is home to five cities within the top 25 ranking, including Gilbert (No. 2), Chandler (No. 14), Surprise (No. 15), Scottsdale (No. 16), and Peoria (No. 19).
- Four cities in California are also within the top 25 safest, including Irvine (No. 10), Glendale (No. 12), Carlsbad (No. 18), Murrieta (No. 21), and Sunnyvale (No. 22).
- The Chicago suburb of Naperville claims the top spot at No. 1 on the list.
Which cities are the safest for trick-or-treating?
To establish our ranking, we analyzed data from more than 300 U.S. cities and assigned equal weight to five key metrics: pedestrian fatalities, violent crime, property crime, the number of registered sex offenders, and the number of law enforcement employees. We standardized each metric by calculating it per 10,000 residents. Furthermore, every city included in our analysis had a population of at least 100,000 or more.
Top 25 safest cities for trick-or-treating 2023
#1. Naperville, IL
- Law enforcement per 10k: 16.8
- Violent crime per 10k: 3.6
- Property crime per 10k: 47.4
- Registered sex offenders per 10k: 2.1
- Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.11
Expecting a small suburban community to top the list? Think again. Naperville, a Chicago suburb and Illinois’ third-largest city with nearly 150,000 residents holds the title.
Naperville retains the charm and security of a tight-knit community with few registered sex offenders, an excellent record of property crime (47.4 incidents per 10,000), and only 53 incidents of violent crime reported across the whole city in the past year.
#2. Gilbert, AZ
- Law enforcement per 10k: 16.1
- Violent crime per 10k: 10.4
- Property crime per 10k: 109.6
- Registered sex offenders per 10k: 2.2
- Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.05
A rapidly expanding bedroom community of Phoenix, AZ, Gilbert shines in its own right as a family-friendly haven with few registered sex offenders (2.2 per 10,000), low rates of violent crime, and a good track record on pedestrian safety (an average of 1.4 fatalities per year in a city with a population of 273,000).
#3. Frisco, TX
- Law enforcement per 10k: 15.0
- Violent crime per 10k: 9.3
- Property crime per 10k: 95.6
- Registered sex offenders per 10k: 1.7
- Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.05
Home to the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys, you’re likely to spot a few little Aikman jerseys out there safely collecting candy in Frisco. The city’s low number of registered sex offenders (1.7 in 10,000) combined with a low incidence of pedestrian fatalities (just 1 per year with a population of 200,000) makes Frisco the perfect place to let the kids roam freely.
#4. Sugar Land, TX
- Law enforcement per 10k: 15.8
- Violent crime per 10k: 6.0
- Property crime per 10k: 127.4
- Registered sex offenders per 10k: 4.4
- Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.09
Trick-or-treating in Sugar Land already sounds like a sweet experience, but the city’s safety stats take the fun up a notch. Reports of violent crime are among the lowest on our list, with only 6 cases reported per every 10,000 residents. Pair that with safe streets for pedestrians and a low presence of sex offenders (4.4 per 10,000) and you’ve got the perfect haunt.
#5. Cary, NC
- Law enforcement per 10k: 13.2
- Violent crime per 10k: 6.7
- Property crime per 10k: 97.4
- Registered sex offenders per 10k: 2.1
- Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.07
Cary consistently ranks among the safest cities in the nation. The carefully cultivated community boasts reassuringly low statistics on violent crime (only 6.7 incidents per 10,000) and a very small number of registered sex offenders (38 among a population of over 178,000), making it trick-or-treating turf you can trust.
When choosing your trick-or-treating destination this year, make sure to stay mindful of your surroundings and carefully map out your route beforehand. Take extra precautions such as placing reflective tape on Halloween costumes and bags while walking after dark, which is recommended by the National Safety Council.
Methodology
To determine our ranking, we analyzed more than 300 census-defined places with a population of 100,000 or more via the U.S. Census Bureau. We compared these cities across five equally weighted variables: pedestrian fatalities (per 10,000), violent crime (per 10,000), property crime (per 10,000), number of registered sex offenders (per 10,000), and number of law enforcement employees (per 10,000).
The average number of pedestrian fatalities was calculated via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and Annual Report File (ARF). Violent crime and property crime statistics were calculated using the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Crime Data Explorer. A registered number of sex offenders was calculated using the FBI’s National Sex Offender Registry, and the number of law enforcement employees was calculated using the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
Each variable was graded on a 100-point scale. To determine an overall score, each city’s weighted average was calculated across all metrics.
- Pedestrian fatalities: 20 points
- Violent crime: 20 points
- Property crime: 20 points
- Registered sex offenders: 20 points
- Law enforcement employees: 20 points
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, FBI National Sex Offender Registry, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2020 Annual Report File (ARF)
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