Do you feel safe living in the Tri-Cities? A new study says you probably should
Do you feel safe living in the Tri-Cities? You probably should. A new study found that Pasco, Richland and Kennewick are among the top 10 safest cities in the state.
Security system reviewer website SafeHome.org recently published its findings on the 25 safest cities in each state, using data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, local crime trends and “demographic metrics that are correlated to crime” including population density, population trends, unemployment, median income and education level.
To qualify for the study, a city had to have a population of 46,000 or more.
The result was that Pasco was named the third safest city in the Evergreen State, with both violent crimes — there were 159 reported — and property crimes — there were 1,493 reported — trending downward by double digit percentages.
The city has a relatively low citizen-to-police-officer ratio of 869 people for every one cop.
Richland came in at No. 5. While property crime has trended upward, with 1,368 incidents reported, the violent crime rate has decreased dramatically, with just 75. There are 712 residents for every police officer in the city.
Kennewick ranked No. 7, with both property and violent crime trending downward. It records 155 violent crimes and 2,223 property crimes. It has a citizen-to-officer ratio of 712 to one.
With such a high safety rating, it’s no surprise that the Tri-Cities were rated among the safest cities in the nation for trick-or-treaters.
No. 1 safe city in Washington
So what’s the safest city in the state?
That would be Sammamish, which also ranked as the 68th safest city in America. There were just 12 violent crimes and 392 property crimes.
Several other Puget Sound area cities also ranked highly: Kirkland was No. 2, Shoreline was No. 4, Redmond No. 6, Bellevue No. 8 and Marysville ranked No. 10.
Washington’s largest cities ranked much lower for safety.
Seattle came in at No. 20, while Tacoma was No. 24 and Spokane was No. 25.
You can read the full study here.
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 12:12 PM.
