Columbia has been ranked among the safest cities in the United States, finishing No. 19 nationally in WalletHub’s 2026 Safest Cities in America rankings. It was the highest rated city in Maryland.
Columbia received an overall score of 66.60 and ranked No. 1 in the country for Home & Community Safety. The Howard County community also ranked 11th for Natural-Disaster Risk and 68th for Financial Safety.
WalletHub compared 182 cities using 41 indicators of safety across three primary categories: Home & Community Safety, Natural-Disaster Risk and Financial Safety. The study looks beyond crime, incorporating factors such as traffic fatalities, unemployment, natural-disaster risk and the percentage of residents without health insurance…