Rexburg, Shelley among 10 safest Idaho cities
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REXBURG — Four eastern Idaho cities have been recognized as among the Gem State’s safest places to live.
SafeWise, a nationwide home security company, issued a report ranking the top ten safest cities in Idaho based on statistics from the FBI’s most recent Crime Report. The rankings are based on the number of violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents, according to a SafeWise news release.
Soda Springs took second place reporting 3.63 property and violent crimes per 1,000 individuals. Rexburg came in third place, reporting 0.34 violent crimes and 8.34 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
Rexburg Mayor Richard Woodland told the Rexburg Standard Journal a major reason for Rexburg’s high safety ranking is the make-up of the community.
“Part of it is who lives here. We’re a predominately conservative community with a religious population and that helps,” Woodland said.
Two other eastern Idaho cities made the list. Shelley was ranked fifth with 0.44 violent crimes and 10.95 property crimes per 1,000 residents. Salmon came in sixth place with 2.22 violent crimes and 9.53 property crimes per 1,000 people.
All rankings were based on data from the 2012 FBI Crime Report. SafeWise classified violent crimes as robbery, aggravated assault, forcible rape and murder. Property crime statistics included motor vehicle theft, burglary, arson and larceny-theft. The security company only examined cities with populations of more than 3,000 residents.
SafeWise also recognized Idaho as one of the safest states in the country. Based on FBI crime data, Idaho has 45 percent less violent crimes (about 204 per 100,000 residents) than the national average of 367 per 100,000 citizens, according to the news release.
To see the complete list of Idaho’s safest cities visit SafeWise.