Moving to safer cities: 2025’s top move-to cities where crime is declining
In a recent moveBuddha survey, 79% of Americans said they’d consider moving in 2025 if it meant heading to a safer neighborhood.
So, moveBuddha dug into the data to find out which of America’s favorite cities to move to in 2025 are getting safer.
- 73% of 2025’s most searched relocation cities are safer due to falling crime rates, both top move-to destination and exit cities.
- Movers are flocking to Providence, Rhode Island, Lansing, Michigan, and Boise, Idaho, and crime is dropping at the highest rates.
- Raleigh, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas, suburbs struggle with increases in local crime as their populations grow.
While safety is often front of mind, only 4.7%of movers told U.S. Census researchers that wanting to live in a better neighborhood or one with less crime was the primary reason they made a move. Other surveys, like one conducted by Redfin in 2021, show that as many as 50% of homeowner relocations have been driven by a desire for improved safety.
The good news is that, according to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), crime is falling. In fact, of the 138 cities with the most searches for 2025 moves that moveBuddha has relocation data for, 101 have seen a drop in property crime since 2020, while 100 saw lower violent crime rates. In spite of heartening statistics, annual data from Gallup polls regularly find that the majority of Americans feel crime in their area is getting worse year by year…