Crime may be a concern for some Austinites, but life is a little more relaxed just beyond the city limits. Cedar Park, Georgetown, and Round Rock were just named among the safest suburbs to live in the U.S., as declared in a new report by financial advisor marketplace SmartAsset.

The report ranked 360 suburbs of major U.S. cities based on their crime rates, vehicular and drug poisoning mortality rates, and the percentage of the population engaging in "excessive drinking." Housing affordability was an additional factor considered for the 35 safest suburbs.

The No. 1 safest American suburb is Lehi, Utah, which is nearly 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Cedar Park (No. 45) was the highest ranking Austin suburb, followed by Georgetown (No. 52) and Round Rock (No. 69). According to the study's findings, 8.47 motor vehicle crash deaths occur per 100,000 residents in all three suburbs, and 18 percent of adults in each city are engaging in excessive drinking.

This is how SmartAsset breaks down each suburb's crime rates per capita:

• 0.00855 – Cedar Park's violent crime rate
• 0.00837 – Georgetown's violent crime rate
• 0.01324 – Round Rock's violent crime rate
• 0.01595 – Cedar Park's property crime rate
• 0.02354 – Georgetown's property crime rate
• 0.03576 – Round Rock's property crime rate

Austin's suburbs have been earning endless praise recently for their livability and growth. Most recently, Round Rock was crowned one of the best cities in the nation for renters, while Cedar Park's low crime rates and high household income level earned the city the title as the No. 4 best Texas city to move to in 2024. Meanwhile, the quiet town of Georgetown is the 8th fastest growing U.S. city, and is also among the best places to retire in the Hill Country.

In a separate report by personal finance website GoBankingRates, which analyzed the 50 safest and most affordable U.S. cities to live in, Round Rock appeared as No. 33, thanks to its low property and violent crime rates as well as a high median household income. The GoBankingRates study emphasized suburbs like Round Rock that offer "vibrant cultural scenes" and strong job markets for adults, along with great schools and abundant recreational activities for families to enjoy.

Elsewhere in Texas
The safest Texas suburb to live in is McKinney, which is located about 40 miles north of Dallas. The city ranked No. 22 in the national comparison and was the highest-ranking suburb statewide.

Other Texas cities that ranked among the top 100 safest American suburbs include Frisco (No. 24), Stafford (No. 50), Taylor (No. 58), Fort Bliss (No. 59), and Anthony (No. 88).

The report says a suburb's safety is a main component residents must consider when choosing the right place to buy their next home, especially when high safety ratings can "increase demand and drive up property values." But there are many factors that go into determining a city's overall safeness.

"Homebuyers can measure how safe a community is by comparing the reported rates of violent crime, property crime, motor vehicle deaths, drug overdose deaths and excessive drinking, among other common indicators, in different areas," the report said.

The top 10 safest U.S. suburbs to live in are:

• No. 1 – Lehi, Utah
• No. 2 – Bethesda, Maryland
• No. 3 – Layton, Utah
• No. 4 – Rockville, Maryland
• No. 5 – Great Falls, Virginia
• No. 6 – Dacula, Georgia
• No. 7 – Buford, Georgia
• No. 8 – Elmhurst, Illinois
• No. 9 – Oak Brook, Illinois
• No. 10 – Edgewater, New Jersey

For the purpose of the study, crime rates were determined based on the number of crimes per 100,000 city residents from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Database in 2022 (the year with the most recent available data), with additional crime data from neighborhood analytics database NeighborhoodScout. The excessive drinking metric is defined as the percentage of adults who consumed more than five alcoholic drinks for men (or more than four for women) on a single occasion over a 30-day period; or those who engage in heavy drinking, which is defined as drinking more than one drink per day for women or two drinks a day for men on average.

The full report and its methodology can be found on smartasset.com.