Safe space

Here's how safe Austin is compared to other big U.S. cities in 2026

Austin made No. 26 on the list.

Austinites have some risk in their daily lives, but overall it's a relatively safe place, according to a new study from personal finance website SmartAsset. The study ranks Austin as the No. 26 safest big city in the U.S. among 83 cities with at least 250,000 residents.

Virginia Beach, Virginia, took the top spot. It was the only city ranked higher than the Dallas suburb of Plano (No. 2).

The 2026 study looked at U.S. cities' violent crimes, property crimes, traffic deaths, and disaster risk.

Austin's violent crime rate was 4.7 for every 1,000 residents. Property crimes were predictably higher at 32.4 per 1,000 residents. And auto fatalities were 10.1 per 1,000 residents. The study also tagged Ausitn with a “relatively high” risk for natural disasters. Knowing the city's vulnerability to floods and extreme heat, that shouldn't be a big surprise.

Plano fared well in three of the four categories: 1.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 14.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents, and 6.9 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents. Plano also had relatively high natural disaster risk.

For all cities in the study, disaster risk and traffic deaths were measured at the county level.

Plano is one of two Texas cities in the SmartAsset study’s top 10. Laredo appears at No. 6. The top 10 cities are:

1. Virginia Beach, Virginia
2. Plano, Texas
3. Madison, Wisconsin
4. Honolulu, Hawaii
5. Chesapeake, Virginia
6. Laredo, Texas
7. Lexington, Kentucky
8. Boston, Massachusetts
9. Lincoln, Nebraska
10. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“While no major population center is entirely free from danger, some are more successful than others at creating environments where people can live, work and travel with confidence,” SmartAsset says.

When it comes to lifestyle, Plano consistently ranks at or near the top of the rankings. It’s recently been named the 12th fittest city in the U.S. and the No. 4 city for raising a family, and its park system has been recognized as the country’s 13th best.

Here’s how other DFW cities rank in the SmartAsset study:

Arlington, No. 19. It had 4.8 violent crimes per 1,000, 24.1 property crimes per 1,000, 10.8 traffic deaths per 100,000, and a relatively high disaster risk.
Fort Worth, No. 22. It had 4.6 violent crimes per 1,000, 27 property crimes per 1,000, 10.8 traffic deaths per 100,000, and a relatively high disaster risk.
Irving, No. 32. It had 2.8 violent crimes per 1,000, 22 property crimes per 1,000, 12.5 traffic deaths per 100,000 and a very high disaster risk.
Dallas, No. 73, making it the 11th least safe big city. It had 6.6 violent crimes per 1,000, 33.5 property crimes per 1,000, 12.5 traffic deaths per 100,000, and a very high disaster risk.

Elsewhere in Texas:

San Antonio landed at No. 54
Houston landed at No. 82, putting it at No. 2 among the least safe big cities.

safest smartasset smartasset study safest cities safest suburbs plano

The Data Says...

Willie Nelson condemns data centers 'invading our land' in Texas

Willie Nelson/Facebook

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A country music legend is joining the conversation surrounding data centers in Texas.

Country music icon Willie Nelson, who himself calls the Central Texas area home, shared a statement urging Texans to "fight against" data centers, which he says are "invading our land."

In the statement, Nelson primarily speaks out against a data center in his hometown of Abbott, in Hill County, though he says his concerns extend to other towns as well. Nelson says he believes the "strength of rural America" comes from the people and the land, not from "big industrial footprints." He goes on to argue that data centers "only destroy the environment around them."

"I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night," Nelson said in the statement. "And now our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centers invading our land. The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter). The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints. It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses and a connection to the land. All of America deserves thoughtful stewardship that doesn't steal farmland (where our essential shared-food is grown) and small family farmers' livelihoods, and not data centers that only destroy the environments around them. Whoever controls food and water, controls the masses. Let's not allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott."

Data centers have become a polarizing topic in Texas as the state has seen sudden and rapid growth of data center development.

Residents in Temple, Texas recently tried to recall multiple City Council members after they voted to move forward with a controversial data center development. Hill County settled a lawsuit with a data center developer after the Commissioners Court attempted to enact a moratorium to pause data center development in the county.

A data center project near Cedar Creek Lake was recently halted by developer Diode after bipartisan backlash, and a coalition of farmers and ranchers held a protest at the Texas State Capitol in late July ahead of a scheduled meeting of the Texas Senate Committee on Finance to speak out against data centers.

Read the full story at our news partner KVUE.com.

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