With Halloween right around the corner, safety is top of mind for parents as kids get ready to hit the streets for trick-or-treating. But which cities in America are the safest for trick-or-treating?
According to a new analysis by SafeHome.org, four Phoenix suburbs rank among the safest cities in the nation for trick-or-treaters.
MORE NEWS: Phoenix bucket list: 25 things you must do
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: Want more news like this? Get our free newsletter here
Gilbert (No. 4), Surprise (No. 6), Scottsdale (No. 8), and Chandler (No. 20) all rank within the top 20 safest cities due to low crime rates, high number of law enforcement employees and safe streets for pedestrians.
Overall, the study analyzed key safety metrics across 161 cities, including: crime, pedestrian fatalities, number of registered sex offenders, and number of law enforcement employees.
Gilbert by the numbers:
- Law enforcement officers per 10k: 16.9
- Registered sex offenders per 10k: 3.9
- Violent crime per 10k: 13.2
- Property crime per 10k: 96.8
- Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.1
Top 10 Safest Cities for Trick-or-Treating
- Yonkers, New York
- Naperville, Illinois
- New York, New York
- Gilbert, Arizona
- Frisco, Texas
- Surprise, Arizona
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- McKinney, Texas
- Irvine, California
These 10 cities came out on top after we implemented a thorough scoring system. All of the cities in our ranking had at least 150,000 residents, and we standardized each safety metric by calculating it per 10,000 residents. To score these cities across America, we evaluated five key safety factors, weighted according to their importance for secure trick-or-treating:
Complete Rankings: Safest Cities for Trick or Treating
| Rank | City | State | Police Per 10,000 | Sex Offenders Per 10,000 | Violent Crime Per 10,000 | Property Crime Per 10,000 | Pedestrian Deaths Per 10,000 | Total Halloween safety score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yonkers | New York | 34.3 | 5.9 | 31.2 | 101.5 | 0.0 | 97 |
| 2 | Naperville | Illinois | 17.9 | 2.4 | 8.4 | 88.4 | 0.1 | 96 |
| 3 | New York | New York | 56.4 | 5.4 | 67.1 | 236.8 | 0.1 | 96 |
| 4 | Gilbert | Arizona | 16.9 | 3.9 | 13.2 | 96.8 | 0.1 | 95 |
| 5 | Frisco | Texas | 15.4 | 1.4 | 10.1 | 100.3 | 0.1 | 95 |
| 6 | Surprise | Arizona | 15.7 | 7.5 | 10.9 | 87.6 | 0.1 | 95 |
| 7 | Honolulu | Hawaii | 23.1 | 6.9 | 18.5 | 179.0 | 0.1 | 94 |
| 8 | Scottsdale | Arizona | 25.1 | 3.5 | 15.3 | 187.5 | 0.2 | 94 |
| 9 | McKinney | Texas | 14.6 | 4.2 | 11.7 | 81.5 | 0.1 | 94 |
| 10 | Irvine | California | 10.9 | 1.2 | 8.4 | 139.0 | 0.1 | 94 |
| 11 | Aurora | Illinois | 23.1 | 16.5 | 26.6 | 125.2 | 0.1 | 94 |
| 12 | Elk Grove | California | 15.6 | 8.6 | 19.0 | 123.2 | 0.1 | 94 |
| 13 | Cary | North Carolina | 14.7 | 2.3 | 7.1 | 131.7 | 0.2 | 93 |
| 14 | Overland Park | Kansas | 16.7 | 6.7 | 18.4 | 176.2 | 0.1 | 93 |
| 15 | Boston | Massachusetts | 40.4 | 5.1 | 62.8 | 202.2 | 0.1 | 93 |
| 16 | Jersey City | New Jersey | 38.3 | 8.2 | 56.2 | 202.9 | 0.1 | 93 |
| 17 | Roseville | California | 13.1 | 9.1 | 21.9 | 142.0 | 0.0 | 93 |
| 18 | Alexandria | Virginia | 25.7 | 19.5 | 21.9 | 264.0 | 0.0 | 93 |
| 19 | Chandler | Arizona | 18.1 | 5.3 | 13.3 | 150.4 | 0.2 | 93 |
| 20 | Grand Prairie | Texas | 22.9 | 12.2 | 22.1 | 160.1 | 0.1 | 93 |
| 21 | Glendale | California | 19.5 | 3.7 | 28.7 | 202.7 | 0.1 | 93 |
| 22 | Plano | Texas | 20.4 | 3.8 | 15.2 | 146.6 | 0.2 | 92 |
| 23 | Henderson | Nevada | 20.7 | 15.8 | 27.2 | 171.5 | 0.1 | 92 |
| 24 | Huntington Beach | California | 16.6 | 4.9 | 20.7 | 198.9 | 0.1 | 92 |
| 25 | Joliet | Illinois | 22.2 | 23.1 | 35.0 | 124.5 | 0.1 | 92 |
Interestingly, a few major metro areas dominated the top 25 rankings:
- In the Phoenix metro, four suburbs (Gilbert, Surprise, Scottsdale, and Chandler) ranked among the top 25 safest cities for trick-or-treating.
- In the Dallas–Fort Worth area, another four suburbs (Frisco, McKinney, Grand Prairie, and Plano) placed in the top 25.
Three Chicago-area cities (Naperville, Aurora, and Joliet) ranked in the top 25 safest for Halloween night. - Finally, three New York metro cities (Yonkers, New York City, and Jersey City) were included among the top 25 safest trick-or-treating destinations.
Additionally, five California cities made the top 25 list, including two in the Sacramento metro area, two in Orange County, and one outside Los Angeles.
