Arizona’s Safest Cities of 2024

See crime rates for the safest cities.

Last year, Arizona saw the nation's most significant decrease in violent crime and the second-most significant decrease in property crime year over year—and our State of Safety Survey reflected low levels of concern about crime and safety statewide. 

But a lot can change in a year. For our 2024 report, we didn't have enough reliable data to calculate statewide crime rates. Although collective crime rates for the safest cities continued to decrease, survey results showed increases in worry and personal experiences with crime year over year.

We didn't have enough viable data to calculate statewide crime rates for Arizona this year. But if the safest cities are any indication, it looks like crime rates could be on the decline statewide.

The collective violent crime rate of the five safest cities is 1.0 incidents per 1,000 people—down from 1.6 last year. For property crime, the safest cities report 10.0 incidents per 1,000 people—down from 12.7 last year.

On the other hand, the number of Arizonans who feel safe in the state dropped 14% year over year —from 42% to 36%. Last year, we reported Arizona's per capita crime rates as 2.6 for violent crime and 14.4 for property crime, which were year over year declines.

Arizonans worried more about property crime during the 2024 reporting year than in the previous year—56% were concerned about property crime on a daily basis, exceeding the national sentiment (52%) and representing a 12% increase year over year.

Along the same lines, reports of personal experiences with property crime increased by 40% year over year. 

• The Grand Canyon State is the fifteenth-most concerned state when it comes to property crime.
• 28% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with property crime in the 12 months prior to the survey—that’s 1 percentage point above the national average.
• 36% of Arizonans fell prey to porch pirates in our latest survey—33% more than last year and 4% higher than the national average.
• 8 in 10 survey respondents use some kind of security measures to protect their Arizona property.
• Of the Arizonans who use some form of property protection, most prefer guard dogs (48%) or security cameras (46%). 
• 23% of survey respondents indicated they use no package theft prevention strategy. Otherwise, most Arizona residents prefer to use a doorbell camera (34%) or have the package left in a safe spot (31%). 

Concern about violent crime rose 11% year over year, but it's still the twenty-fifth least concerned state. The rate of worry didn't keep up with reported experiences with violent crime, though. Respondents who told us they had a personal experience with violent crime jumped an astonishing 111% year over year. 

• Every day, 51% of Arizonans worry about a violent crime happening to them—that’s 1 percentage point higher than the national average.
• 19% of survey respondents reported having a personal experience with violent crime in the 12 months prior to the survey—25% above the national average (15%) and 111% higher than last year.
• 49% of Arizona survey respondents use some form of personal protection—a stark increase from 34% last year (US 39%).
• Of those Arizona residents who use personal protection, most prefer pepper spray (57%) or pocket knives (49%).
• 45% of Arizonans reported adding or increasing security or safety measures during the 12 months prior to the survey, which is higher than the national average of 35%.

• Gun violence went from the safety issue Arizonans are least worried about on a daily basis to the top concern (along with package theft)—58% are highly concerned about it every day, versus 53% nationwide.
• 16% reported having a personal experience with gun violence in the 12 months prior to the survey, which represents a 60% increase year over year. 
• Arizona saw 8 mass shootings in 2023—5 fewer than the previous year.
• Of the Arizonans who use some form of protection, 47% use a firearm for personal protection and 41% use one for property protection.

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• 24 cities qualified to be ranked in Arizona this year.
• Numbers 1 through 4 on our list stayed the same year over year, with each city holding onto its position for the second consecutive year.
• San Luis is the safest city in Arizona for the second year in a row. It reported just 0.5 violent crimes and 5.6 property crimes per 1,000 people.
• Queen Creek is new to the rankings, debuting as the fifth-safest city in Arizona.
• San Luis, Oro Valley, and Sahuarita each saw declines in the violent crime rate year over year.
• Gilbert is one of the most populous cities to repeatedly land on our safest cities lists.  with over 277,000 people, it's low per capita crime rates are even more impressive.
• The collective violent crime rate of the safest cities is 1.0 incidents per 1,000—3 incidents fewer than the nationwide rate of 4.0.
• The collective property crime rate of the safest cities is 10.0 incidents per 1,000 people—less than half the nationwide rate of 20.7.

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Find all endnotes and sources in our full methodology.

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed March 18, 2024.

• 2022 and 2021 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
  • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
• 2022 NIBRS Estimation Tables

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed March 18, 2024.

Gun Violence Archive, "Mass Shootings." Accessed March 18, 2023.