Roswell Among Safest Cities To Raise A Child: Report

ROSWELL, GA — Roswell has been named one of the top 50 safest cities in the United States to raise a child according to a new report by SafeWise.

SafeWise each city’s overall safety score, median income, crime rate, graduation rates, and number of sex offenders. It also detailed what makes each city attractive to families and what these communities have done to address crime.

Roswell ranked No. 33 on the report, and the city's stats include:

• Safety Score: 90.60
• Population: 95,602
• Median Income: $87,911

As parents, there’s nothing more important than keeping children safe, the report said.

"From crime levels to quality schools, living in a community that shares your priorities is important," SafeWise wrote. "The good news is that no matter where you live in America, your children probably enjoy lower crime levels than you did growing up. Statistics from the FBI show that violent crime in the United States has fallen 49 percent since 1993, and property crime has also decreased 50 percent during the same period."

But what makes a community safe is about more than the prevalence of crime, SafeWise wrote. As they dug deep into the data, they also considered factors like graduation rates and the number of sex offenders per capita.

SafeWise analyzed the most recent FBI violent and property crime report statistics. Cities were ranked according to the number of violent crimes (including aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). By considering crime data alongside sex offenders per capita and graduation rates per capita, SafeWise also was able to calculate its final safety score.

Violent crime, property crime, and sex offenders per capita were each weighted as 30 percent of a city’s score. High school graduation rates made up 10 percent of the score. Scores were then standardized to calculate their rankings for the safest cities to raise a child.

Cities were excluded from the list if they fell below the population threshold of 75,000 or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI. To level the playing field, violent and property crime rates were calculated per 1,000 people in each city.

"Information like this can tell us not only about threats within the community but also how well-positioned these cities are to help kids thrive," SafeWise said.

Key findings from the report include:

• This year’s list of the safest cities to raise a child represent 50 cities from 18 states.
• Cities that made the list hail from every region, but 22 percent were from western states.
• California topped the list with 14 of the safest cities to raise a child, followed by Texas with seven cities.
• While cities in rural states with smaller populations tend to have less crime, they also tend to have lower graduation rates.
• The top five safest cities to raise a child also have some of the highest median incomes on the list.
• Only three cities on the list fell below the average median income in the United States: Lakewood, New Jersey; Port St. Lucie, Florida; and Cape Coral, Florida.
• Three of the safest cities to raise kids also made the 2019 list of the safest college towns in the United States: Irvine, California; Naperville, Illinois; and Thousand Oaks, California.
• 84 percent of the cities represented on this year’s report are new.

Other Georgia cities on the list include Johns Creek at No. 3 and Sandy Springs at No. 36.