America's Safest Suburb Is In Utah

Here in our part of the state, we don't deal all that much with suburbs. I suppose I could start a fight by saying that Washington is suburb of St. George, or that Enoch was Cedar City's 'burb.' But, basically we just have communities, and some happen to be close to another.

However, our friends up in the northern part of the state to have urban and suburban areas, and it happens that the safest suburb in America is here in Utah.

A recent study by financial technology company SmartAsset has named Lehi, Utah the safest suburb in the United States for the second year in a row. The 2025 America’s Safest Suburbs study evaluated 360 suburbs located within 45 minutes of a major U.S. city, using a comprehensive methodology that considered five key public health and safety metrics.

What Data Did Smart Asset Use To Make The Rankings

To determine its rankings, SmartAsset analyzed the following data: violent crime rate, property crime rate, vehicular mortality rate, drug overdose death rate, and the percentage of adults reporting excessive drinking. The study aimed to present a fuller picture of community safety by going beyond traditional crime statistics to include health-related dangers and risky behaviors.

Lehi City (lehi.ut.gov)

Lehi stood out for its consistently low numbers across every category. The city reported a violent crime rate of just 0.0072 incidents per capita and a property crime rate of 0.0158 per capita. Additionally, Lehi’s vehicular death rate was 5.6 per 100,000 residents, and its drug overdose death rate was 11.9 per 100,000—both well below the national averages. Most notably, Lehi was the only suburb in the entire study with an excessive drinking rate below 10%, coming in at just 9.39%.

The study also considered housing affordability in each suburb. Lehi’s median monthly housing cost was reported at $1,881, with a median household income of $125,860. While some of the top-ranked suburbs in the study were located in high-cost areas like Maryland and Northern Virginia, Lehi offered both safety and relative affordability, making it an especially attractive option for families and professionals alike.

Lehi City (lehi.ut.gov)

Other suburbs that ranked highly included Bethesda, Maryland and Great Falls, Virginia, but none matched Lehi’s across-the-board performance. SmartAsset’s report emphasized that no single metric alone defines community safety; rather, a holistic view provides a more accurate representation of what residents can expect in terms of well-being and quality of life.