Crime & Safety

These Are The Safest Towns In Maryland For 2019: New List

A new report ranks the safest places to live in Maryland for 2019. Where does your community rank?

Densely populated Maryland is a state of contradictions: It has the highest household income of any state, but also one of the highest crime rates. The state has one of the higher violent crime rates in the United States and is only slightly below average for property crime.

The latest FBI crime statistics, just released for 2017, show that the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson region had 22,001 violent crimes reported, a category that includes murder and nonnegligent

manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The region includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne's counties and Baltimore City.

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Official figures show that by household income, Maryland's average of $80,776 is almost a third higher than the national average. Per capita income at nearly $40,000 is also well above average.

Despite the high average incomes, the crime statistics for Maryland are relatively high. The state’s averages show:

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  • It’s the 35th safest state for property crime (No. 1 means the lowest crime)
  • Maryland’s level of violent crime is approaching double the national average (ratio=1.82) with 6.30 crimes per 1,000 against the national average of 3.47. This makes it the 41st safest state in violent crime terms.
  • The state’s property crime levels are slightly below national averages at 33.08 per 1,000 compared to the national average of 40.43 – giving a ratio of 0.82.

The National Council for Home Safety and Security ranked the safest towns and cities in Maryland based on the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics and population sizes. Towns with populations under 10,000 weren't ranked. NCHSS also computed a "police adequacy" variable which measures the total number of crimes compared to the number of police employees.

The 20 safest towns and cities in Maryland are:

  • Ocean Pines
  • Havre de Grace
  • Aberdeen
  • Bel Air
  • Annapolis
  • Takoma Park
  • Easton
  • Frederick
  • Bowie
  • Hagerstown
  • New Carrollton
  • Westminster
  • Laurel
  • Greenbelt
  • Baltimore
  • Salisbury
  • Hyattsville
  • Cambridge
  • Cumberland
  • Elkton

>>>Check out the full list here including a breakdown of the type of crimes committed in your hometown.

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