A new study by SmartAsset has identified Plano as the second safest large city in the United States, just behind Virginia Beach. This ranking highlights the safety of Texas cities, with Laredo coming in sixth place. Meanwhile, Dallas and Houston are positioned in the bottom ten, with Houston ranked second to last.
The study evaluated 83 cities across the country that have populations exceeding 250,000, which encompasses over 90 percent of major urban areas in the U.S. Plano outperformed cities like Madison, Wisconsin; Honolulu; and Chesapeake, Virginia, which completed the top five.
To determine safety, the study combined four metrics instead of relying solely on crime statistics. Two of these metrics were derived from the FBI's 2024 Crime in the United States report, measuring the number of violent crimes and property crimes per 1,000 residents.
Additionally, the analysis included motor vehicle fatalities per 100,000 residents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a disaster risk assessment from FEMA's National Risk Index, updated as of April 2026 and rated on a five-point scale.
Plano's statistics included 1.5 incidents of violent crime per 1,000 residents, 14.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents, and 6.9 motor vehicle fatalities per 100,000 residents. However, the city's disaster risk was rated as "Relatively High," which negatively impacted its overall ranking.
The disaster risk factor also influenced rankings for other cities. For instance, Irvine, California, ranked 12th, and Santa Ana, California, ranked 20th, both faced challenges due to risks associated with earthquakes and wildfires, despite having moderate crime rates. This indicates that the ranking is not solely based on crime statistics, as cities with similar crime rates can have vastly different rankings.
