It is crucial to live in a city that is secure to ensure that you and your family members feel safe without anyone attacking or robbing you. However, when deciding on the best place to live in the state of Louisiana, safety should always be of great concern. When there are so many wonderful cities and towns in the world, the question arises as to how one can identify which of them could be considered the safest. Finally, based on the crime rates and rankings of the past year, we shall identify the top safest cities.

Considering Crime Statistics and Safety Rankings

To determine the rankings of the safest cities in Louisiana, it will be pertinent to explore violent and property crime rates, as well as, the safety ratings provided by several highly regarded sources. The former includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault while the latter embraces burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft. Ideally, the lower these numbers are, the safer that city is considered to be for its inhabitants. The crime rates will also be compared to state and national averages in the analysis of the results.

Other valuable sources for general safety ratings would be the NCISHS’s report on Louisiana’s Safest Cities and Alarm.org’s report on Safest Cities in Louisiana in 2022. These rankings involve the use of recent crime rates in developing the standard formula for scoring, thus enabling a quantitative analysis of the safety of urban zones.

The largest cities in Louisiana with the lowest incidences of violent crimes:

If you’re looking for safety in one of Louisiana’s major metro areas, the data shows that three cities stand out when it comes to lower crime rates: If you’re looking for safety in one of Louisiana’s major metro areas, the data shows that three cities stand out when it comes to lower crime rates:

• Lafayette – In terms of violent crime, the city is 44 percent below the state average and 54 percent below the national average while the level of property crime, though slightly higher than in the rest of Louisiana, is still 10 percent below the national average, making Lafayette one of the safest large cities in the state. The latest NCSHSS report has ranked NCSHS at the # 4 position out of the overall list.

• Shreveport – Despite experiencing higher crime rates than the Louisiana average, Shreveport ranks adequately enough at #7 for safety in Louisiana. It also includes it as one of the safer choices of such areas on Alarm.org.

• Baton Rouge – As the state capital and the second largest city Baton Rouge has been experiencing some growing pains in the form of crime. However, it is currently below the state average for property crimes, and violent crimes are also decreasing from year to year as well.

Smaller Cities and Towns: The Top 10 Most Safe Cities

If we are to look at the even safer communities in which to reside, then the smaller cities, towns, and even villages are considered to be safer in Louisiana based on crime statistics and other reviews. Here are the top 10 safest small cities and places under 25,000 residents:

1. Mandeville – The city situated on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain is one of the safest places in Louisiana; with a crime rate of 8 per 1000 residents, it is ranked as the number one safest city in Louisiana.

2. Scott – of all the cities in Louisiana, Scott ranks second in terms of safety per capita, with the lowest violent crime rate and the second lowest property crime rate in the state.

3. Youngsville – This small but developing suburb of Lafayette has 90% of the cities experiencing little to no violent crimes each year and a property crime rate 56% lower than the national average. It comes third on safety as per the research done by the UK’s National Statistics.

4. Covington – Covington, a city in St. Tammany Parish, is also one of the safest cities in this state, and this explains why its safety rates are among the top 10. In terms of the safety and security of neighborhoods, it performs rather well and thus deserves high scores in this category.

5. Broussard – This is another suburb in the Lafayette metro that can boast of having slim violent crime and property crime statistics which are 45% below the average of the United States.

6. Maurice – A charming village in the southwest of Lafayette, this town is perfect for those who want to live in a low-crime area, with Maurice reporting only 13 violent crimes per year and very low levels of property crimes.

7. Zachary – Despite having slightly higher property crime rates compared to all other contenders in the top 10, Zachary stands out for having negligible violent crime indexes. With only 14 violent crimes in the entire previous year, this city is located in the northern region of Baton Rouge.

8. Pierre Part – Let me present you with a safe, rather secluded area where property crime rates are slightly over one-tenth that of big cities per capita. As in the previous year, it recorded less than ten violent crimes within the same calendar period.

9. Patterson – A reduction in property crime in the past ten years places Patterson on the list in the last place. Even 10 violent crimes were reported in this place in the previous year as well.

10. New Iberia – Although crime figures are slightly higher in comparison, crime statistics in New Iberia are considerably low and it is listed among the safest small cities in Louisiana according to the most recent data. If there is anything, it gets high grades for safety concerning natural disasters.

The Takeaway

Thus it becomes important for those looking for the best and safest places and cities to live in Louisiana, especially the smaller cities such as Mandeville, Scott, and Youngsville are considered to be the safest as per the latest crime rates and safety indices. However, several big cities such as Lafayette, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge can still be classified as safe places with relatively low incidence rates compared to the size and density of the population. When considering the areas to relocate to in Louisiana ensure to check the new crime rates and safety ratings of any city you are considering. Another good idea is to check crime maps and even drive around those areas to get an idea of how safe the place is during the search for a home.