Dallas and Boston rated safest large US cities in new poll
August 22, 2023
Dallas and Boston have been rated by Americans as the safest out of 16 large U.S. cities, according to a new Gallup poll.
The poll results: In the newly published poll from Gallup, the cities included in the study were Dallas, Boston, Seattle, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, D.C.
The results from the poll, which was conducted from July 3 to 17, show that Americans feel safest in Dallas (74%) and Boston (72%). In addition, a majority of Americans also rated nine other cities as safe, including Seattle (63%), Las Vegas (61%) and Miami (59%).
By contrast, Americans feel the least safe in Chicago (27%) and Detroit (26%). Other low-rated cities include Los Angeles (41%), New York City (41%) and Philadelphia (47%).
Partisanship in perceptions: According to Gallup, partisanship significantly influences perceptions of safety in U.S. cities. Democrats and Democratic-leaning individuals, except in Dallas and Miami, tend to see most cities as safe, whereas Republicans and Republican-leaning individuals hold the opposite view. Republicans see only five cities as safe: Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas, Boston and Houston. Gallup noted that the average party gap is 29 percentage points, which is much higher than the 2-point percentage gap in 2006.
2006 vs. 2023: As compared to the 2006 poll, several cities have become notably safer in people’s perceptions, including New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Chicago, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Seattle are now seen as less safe, with San Francisco and Chicago seeing the largest decline in safety perceptions, dropping 18 and 20 percentage points, respectively.
Crime statistics: Current views on safety also align with recent crime trends and notable events. According to Gallup, instances like the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, the Seattle autonomous zone and heightened attention to gun violence in Chicago likely impacted how people perceive crime in those cities.
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