(MONEY Magazine) – Protecting yourself and your family from crime is your highest priority, according to MONEY's 1996 reader poll ranking 41 different quality-of-life factors. (For more on what matters most when choosing a place to live today, see the box on page 79.) Therefore, as you might imagine, most of our top 10 Best Places enjoy below-average crime rates as measured by the most recent comprehensive figures (for 1994) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We went a step further, however, and decided to identify the safest havens among the 300 largest U.S. metro areas. Here they are:

The lowest violent-crime rate is in the Appleton/Oshkosh metro area of central Wisconsin (No. 58 overall in our 1996 ranking). There, residents experienced just 82 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants in 1994, compared with the national average of 716. And the place with the lowest property-crime rate, as well as the lowest overall crime rate, is the western Pennsylvania region of Johnstown (No. 113), 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Its 1,456 incidences of property crime per 100,000 inhabitants in 1994 was only one-third the 4,658 national average.

The three runners-up in the violent-crime rankings: Wausau, Wis. (91 per 100,000), Nashua, N.H. (96 per 100,000) and Sheboygan, Wis. (100 per 100,000). The runners-up in property crime are Wichita (1,962 per 100,000), Hagerstown, Md. (2,112 per 100,000) and Altoona, Pa. (2,287 per 100,000), just 25 miles northeast of Johnstown.

What does a community need to do to keep the lid on crime? A close look at Appleton and Johnstown suggests the key is a communitywide dedication to look out for your neighbors. "From judges to social service agencies to citizens involved in neighborhood watches, the people of this area are committed to retaining a small-town feel, even though this is a growing metro area," says Sgt. Ray Reinmann, head of the Community Support Department for the 100-strong police force of Appleton.

For example, Appleton's seven-year-old Fox Valley Unites project brings together residents, government agencies, schools, the media and business owners to promote responsible alcohol use and to educate kids and adults about the dangers of drugs. "Instead of finger-pointing, the whole community is involved," says Mark Germano, president of the Fox Cities United Way.

In Johnstown, the stunningly low property-crime rate is even more remarkable given the region's tough economic history. Located in the heart of Pennsylvania's once booming steel country, unemployment shot into the double digits in the mid-'80s as more than 20,000 jobs vanished. Indeed, the current 9.8% unemployment rate is almost twice the U.S. average. Yet crime has stayed low. "Through boom times and hard times we've never let crime become a big problem," says Bob Layo of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce.

However, in the late 1980s, a rise in local drug use led to an increase in the crime rate. Police Chief Robert Huntley responded by reassigning 12 cops to work on drug enforcement. He also enlisted the help of the community. "We basically begged citizens to help," Huntley says. "We started neighborhood crime watches and asked everyone to get involved." Since the crackdown, drug-related crimes have fallen 40%. --C.F.