Nevada’s Safest Cities of 2024

See crime rates for the safest cities.

In our latest State of Safety survey, 55% of respondents in Nevada reported feeling concern for their safety on a regular basis. This is higher than the national average of 47%. This increase in concern—it's 15% higher than last year—may be due to crime rates in the state that rose year over year and are above the national average. 

Although Nevada’s crime rates have historically been higher than national averages, violent crime dipped in last year's report. In fact, violent crime in Nevada had been dropping for four years, but this year it increased from 4.3 incidents per 1,000 residents to 5.7 (US 4.0).

When it comes to property crime, the state isn't doing so well. While it dropped below the national average in 2021,  it's back above it for the second year in a row. Nevada's per capita property crime rate went from 23.0 incidents per 1,000 people to 25.2 (US 19.3). 

Property crime increased 22% year over year, making Nevada the state with the eighth-highest property crime rate in the US.

• Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) Nevadans surveyed say they worry about becoming a victim of property crime, compared to 52% across the US. That's up from 49% the year before.
• Property crime experiences rose by 56% year over year, from 18% in our last reporting year to 28%.
• Larceny-theft makes up 63% of all property crime in Nevada, compared to 72% nationwide. 
• Burglaries account for 18% of all property crimes—5 percentage points higher than the national proportion of 13%.
• 18% of survey respondents use no kind of security measure to protect their Nevada property (US 25%).
• The most popular form of property protection (43%) is a security system.
• Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) told us they increased their security measures in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Though violent crime rose year over year, Nevadans level of concern about it fell 2% from the year before. That said, Nevada still expresses the sixteenth-highest level of concern about violent crime in the US. Overall, Nevada's violent crime rate of 5.7 incidents per 1,000 people is the fifth-highest in the country.

• 56% of Nevadan respondents said they were concerned about violent crime (US 50%).
• 14% said they had experience with violent crime, which is 56% higher than the year before.
• Aggravated assault is the most prevalent violent crime in Nevada, making up 58% of all reported incidents, compared to 71% nationally.
• Nevada sees more robberies (30% of all violent crime) than the rest of the US, where the proportion is 16%.. 
• 38% say they use some kind of personal safety protection like pepper spray—higher than the national average of 36%. 
• Pocket knives and pepper spray are the most popular forms of personal protection in the state, with almost 4 in 10 respondents saying they use one (39% each).
• Barely 2 in 10 Nevadans say they feel safe in their state (21%). That's the fourth-lowest in the nation (US 45%).

• 64% of Nevada residents named gun violence as a safety concern—well above the US average of 51% and the seventh-highest nationwide.
• 10% of survey respondents reported experiencing gun violence in the 12 months prior to the survey—lower than the national average of 12%.
• There were 5 mass shootings in Nevada during 2023, the same number reported the previous two years. 
• More Nevadans use firearms to protect their property (30%) than the nationwide average (28%).
• Concealed firearms of the third-most preferred form of personal protection, according to Nevada survey participants.

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.

• There were only 6 cities that qualified to be ranked in Nevada.
• Mesquite rose one place to be the safest city in Nevada.
• Reno is new to the top 5 this year, landing in fifth place.
• Mesquite and Henderson are the only cities with violent crime rates below the national average.

• 100 Safest Cities in the U.S.
• 10 Safest Big Cities in the U.S.
• Best Home Security Systems
• Best Home Security Cameras
• Best Video Doorbell Cameras
• Burglary Stats & Facts
• Over 50% Of All Burglaries Are Residential—How To Protect Your Family
• The Best Personal Safety Devices for Every Situation

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.