Key stat: 55.9 incidents of crime per 100,000 residents

This small city near the Jersey shore recorded the lowest rate of violent crime of any town of 75,000 residents or more, according to Morgan Quitno Press, an independent research publisher in Lawrence, Kansas, which used FBI statistics in its analysis.

Most of the top safest cities are small, commuter enclaves on the outskirts of much bigger cities. Many Brick Township residents, for example, commute to jobs in northern New Jersey and New York.