Last week, visualcapitalist.com released their Top 100 Safest Cities in the United States. According to specific details within their report, they only considered cities with a population of 25,000 or higher and obtained their data set from NeighborhoodScout. Reading came in 26th with a total crime rate (per 1,000 residents) of 5.1 and a 1 in 192 chance of being a victim. For comparison, the safest city was Ridgefield, Connecticut with a total crime rate (per 1,000 residents) of 1.9 and a 1 in 510 chance of being a victim.
Massachusetts, in general, had 18 out of the top 50 safest cities as outlined below:
| Rank | City | State | Total Crime Rate (per 1,000 residents) | Chance of Being a Victim |
| 2 | Franklin | Massachusetts | 2.9 | 1 in 344 |
| 4 | Marshfield | Massachusetts | 3.3 | 1 in 300 |
| 5 | Arlington | Massachusetts | 3.4 | 1 in 292 |
| 8 | Lexington | Massachusetts | 3.7 | 1 in 270 |
| 13 | Milton | Massachusetts | 4.2 | 1 in 233 |
| 14 | Needham | Massachusetts | 4.2 | 1 in 233 |
| 18 | Wakefield | Massachusetts | 4.5 | 1 in 218 |
| 24 | Billerica | Massachusetts | 5.1 | 1 in 195 |
| 26 | Reading | Massachusetts | 5.1 | 1 in 192 |
| 27 | North Andover | Massachusetts | 5.2 | 1 in 190 |
| 28 | Wellesley | Massachusetts | 5.2 | 1 in 189 |
| 32 | Andover | Massachusetts | 5.4 | 1 in 182 |
| 36 | Waltham | Massachusetts | 5.8 | 1 in 169 |
| 40 | Melrose | Massachusetts | 6.0 | 1 in 164 |
| 43 | Beverly | Massachusetts | 6.2 | 1 in 161 |
| 46 | Shrewsbury | Massachusetts | 6.4 | 1 in 156 |
| 47 | Dracut | Massachusetts | 6.4 | 1 in 155 |
| 49 | Newton | Massachusetts | 6.5 | 1 in 152 |
Historically, Reading’s ranking over the years is as follows:
- 2022 – 19th
- 2021 – 19th
- 2020 – 29th
- 2019 – 19th
- 2018 – 31st
- 2017 – 10th
- 2016 – N/A
- 2015 – 18th
