Top 10 Safest Cities in North America — All Top 5 Are Canadian
Canada is dominating the safety rankings again. According to Numbeo's latest North America city safety index, the top five safest cities in all of North America are Canadian — and they're split between Ontario and Quebec.
Here's the full top 10 list:
1. Quebec City, QC — Safety score: 77.7, Crime index: 22.3
2. Burlington, ON — Safety score: 71.4, Crime index: 28.6
3. Ottawa, ON — Safety score: 69.3, Crime index: 30.7
4. Montreal, QC — Safety score: 67.1, Crime index: 32.9
5. Guelph, ON — Safety score: 66.2, Crime index: 33.8
6. Salt Lake City, UT — (first US city)
7. Madison, WI
8. Irvine, CA
9. Calgary, AB — Safety score: 62.1, Crime index: 37.9
10. Boise, ID
Canada accounts for six of the top 10 safest cities in North America. Across the full ranking of 79 cities, there are 33 Canadian cities on the list.
Beyond the top 10, Calgary ranks ninth in Canada. Halifax and Victoria tie at twelfth place with safety scores of 60.4, followed by Kingston at fourteenth (also 60.4). Vancouver comes in at seventeenth with a safety score of 57.2 and a crime index of 42.8 — making it the only Canadian city in the top ten to fall into the "Moderate" crime range rather than "Low."
All Canadian cities on the list have a safety index categorized as "High" (scores between 60.01 and 80 out of 100), which corresponds to a "Low" crime index.
Ontario claims four cities in the top ten, followed by Quebec and British Columbia with two each. Alberta has one (Calgary) and Nova Scotia also has one (Halifax).
Numbeo's safety index is based on crowdsourced user surveys collected over the previous five years. It measures how safe people feel in their daily lives and covers general crime perceptions, walking alone safety at night, and property crime concerns. Only cities meeting a minimum contribution threshold are included.
For anyone considering moving to or visiting North America, these rankings offer a useful — if subjective — guide. Canada's consistent performance across decades of safety data is no coincidence.
Here's the full top 10 list:
1. Quebec City, QC — Safety score: 77.7, Crime index: 22.3
2. Burlington, ON — Safety score: 71.4, Crime index: 28.6
3. Ottawa, ON — Safety score: 69.3, Crime index: 30.7
4. Montreal, QC — Safety score: 67.1, Crime index: 32.9
5. Guelph, ON — Safety score: 66.2, Crime index: 33.8
6. Salt Lake City, UT — (first US city)
7. Madison, WI
8. Irvine, CA
9. Calgary, AB — Safety score: 62.1, Crime index: 37.9
10. Boise, ID
Canada accounts for six of the top 10 safest cities in North America. Across the full ranking of 79 cities, there are 33 Canadian cities on the list.
Beyond the top 10, Calgary ranks ninth in Canada. Halifax and Victoria tie at twelfth place with safety scores of 60.4, followed by Kingston at fourteenth (also 60.4). Vancouver comes in at seventeenth with a safety score of 57.2 and a crime index of 42.8 — making it the only Canadian city in the top ten to fall into the "Moderate" crime range rather than "Low."
All Canadian cities on the list have a safety index categorized as "High" (scores between 60.01 and 80 out of 100), which corresponds to a "Low" crime index.
Ontario claims four cities in the top ten, followed by Quebec and British Columbia with two each. Alberta has one (Calgary) and Nova Scotia also has one (Halifax).
Numbeo's safety index is based on crowdsourced user surveys collected over the previous five years. It measures how safe people feel in their daily lives and covers general crime perceptions, walking alone safety at night, and property crime concerns. Only cities meeting a minimum contribution threshold are included.
For anyone considering moving to or visiting North America, these rankings offer a useful — if subjective — guide. Canada's consistent performance across decades of safety data is no coincidence.
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