Danville has earned the top spot in the SafeWise “California’s Safest Cities of 2026” report. After being ranked No. 2 last year, a decline in both violent crime and property crime contributed to Danville returning to the No. 1 ranking. The independent safety research organization has been analyzing FBI-reported data and creating a list of safest cities by state since 2015.
“We are extremely proud of our community policing approach — built on thoughtful planning, strong public safety services, and a genuine partnership with our residents — which continues to make Danville a safe and welcoming place to live,” said Mayor Newell Arnerich. “With the support of the Town Council and under the leadership of Police Chief Thomas Rossberg, our Police Department works hand-in-hand with the community to educate, prevent, and enforce in the interest of public safety. This shared commitment is a key reason Danville has been recognized by SafeWise as California’s safest city for six of the past nine years.”
The annual rankings provide a data-driven snapshot of reported crime trends to illustrate relative risk among cities, with results adjusted for population to allow for fair comparison of both large and small cities. The only other Bay Area city in the top 10 is San Ramon at No. 9. Rankings are based on violent and property crime rates, calculated per 1,000 residents, and California’s top 10 safest cities have populations of 35,000 to 122,000. SafeWise reports the following averages for 2026:
Avg. per 1,000 residents National State Danville
Property crime 22.89 20.84 5.9 (7.4 in 2025)
Violent crime 4.43 4.24 0.6 (0.8 in 2025)
SafeWise relies on reported crime data from the FBI to determine rankings along with national trends. Danville ranked No. 1 from 2018 to 2022. Although changes state and county reporting procedures led to lack of data for 2023 and 2024, Danville’s statistics for those years were similar to other top-ranked cities and Danville ranked No. 2 in 2025. The full report is available at safewise.com/blog.
