Safety across Texas is shifting in a noticeable way. Numbers from the state paint a picture of gradual improvement, many suburbs keep posting very low crime rates, and a handful of larger metros are moving up national safety rankings.
New concerns do show up, especially around vehicle theft and coastal weather risk, but the overall direction leans positive. Residents, newcomers, and anyone weighing a move can get a clearer view of where the strongest safety records sit and why certain places rise above others.
Today, we pulled together statewide trends, the safest small and mid-size cities, standouts among large suburbs, and the big city that leads the pack for 2025. We also got in touch with some of our friends from Texas, just to see if the data actually matches what some of the statistics show.
Our goal here is to give readers real detail, specific examples, and a sense of where safety patterns in Texas actually point right now. Let’s get right into it.
Key Highlights
- Violent and property crime rates in Texas are trending downward, while vehicle theft is rising across the state.
- The safest places in 2025 are small and mid-sized suburbs around DFW, Houston, and El Paso, led by San Elizario, Parker, and Fulshear.
- Frisco, Pearland, Plano, Sugar Land, and McKinney rank among the safest large suburbs, with Frisco near the top nationally.
- Laredo stands as the safest major city in Texas for the fourth straight year, supported by strong community and law enforcement coordination.
Statewide Safety Heading Into 2025
Texas Department of Public Safety data from the Crime in Texas 2023 report offers the most current full snapshot.
Violent crime fell from 426.1 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2022 to 395.4 in 2023, a drop of 7.2 percent. Property crime edged down from 2,352.6 per 100,000 to 2,275.7, a decline of 3.3 percent.
Those shifts signal a slow but steady improvement. Yet there is one number that moves in the opposite direction.
Motor vehicle theft climbed sharply, rising about 23 percent in rate and more than 25 percent in total cases between 2022 and 2023.
Few statewide indicators jumped that much. Residents feel that there is a change in both big and small communities.
A second pattern stands out. Roughly 70 percent of statewide violent crime volume sits inside the top 25 jurisdictions.
Houston , San Antonio , Dallas , and major county sheriffs’ offices hold most of the total. That concentration shapes the entire map. When those metros see even mild movement up or down, statewide averages shift quickly.
For 2025, most Texans are living with slightly lower violent and property crime rates than a few years ago. Vehicle theft weighs on nearly every region. Against that backdrop, a set of suburbs and smaller cities offers extremely low risk across nearly every category.
The Safest Small and Mid-Size Cities in Texas for 2025
The spread of cities covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Houston suburbs, and the El Paso region. Many share traits such as steady growth, newer housing, strong community oversight, and limited commercial corridors. According to SafeWise:
Summary
Numbers range from about 10 to 80 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, far beneath the statewide average of 395.4.
City Profiles
We looked at each community’s numbers, local conditions, and the traits that keep crime low in daily life. We cross-referenced the research with some of the SafeWise data, and here’s what we came up with:
1. San Elizario
San Elizario sits near El Paso and carries the lowest violent crime rate among small and mid-sized cities for 2025.
Violent crime dropped from 0.8 in 2023 to 0.4 in 2024, then down again to 0.1. Property crime sits at 1.2. A small number of burglaries show up, but reports of theft remain almost nonexistent.
Multiple years of zero murders, rapes, or robberies anchor San Elizario’s record. Growth is slow and steady.
Streets stay quiet. Residents describe a community with a strong local identity, long-standing families, and close coordination between police and neighborhood groups.
2. Parker
Parker takes the No. 2 slot. It is a Collin County suburb that blends open land with proximity to major job hubs like Plano and Richardson.
Parker is a new entrant on the list for 2025 with a violent crime rate of 0.2 and a property crime rate of 2.8.
One detail stands out for 2025. The city reported no motor vehicle thefts. Considering statewide theft rose more than 25 percent in volume, Parker’s record highlights how much local enforcement and community vigilance matter.
3. Fulshear
Fulshear, in Fort Bend County west of Houston, maintains an impressively stable safety profile. Violent crime has stayed between 0.2 and 0.3 for three straight years. Property crime fell from 5.6 in 2024 to 4.0 in 2025.
Fulshear is a growing suburban hub with master planned communities, newer roads, expanding schools, and consistent investment in civic infrastructure.
That combination supports its long-standing place among top-performing Texas suburbs.
4. Trophy Club
Trophy Club sits between Grapevine Lake and the Alliance employment corridor. Violent crime improved from 0.4 in 2024 to 0.2 in 2025. Property crime fell from 5.9 to 3.9.
Residents often mention how community layout, park systems, and local patrol patterns all contribute to the city’s safety record.
Trophy Club regularly sees measurable improvement year over year, which signals strong internal alignment between residents and enforcement agencies.
5. Melissa
Melissa sits north of McKinney along US 75. Growth in the area is fast, commercial development has picked up, and new subdivisions keep appearing each year. Violent crime sits at 0.3. Property crime is 3.9 after dropping from a spike of 6.5 in 2023.
The temporary spike appears tied to rapid population growth and shifting retail activity. The quick reversal suggests focused local action and steady momentum as the city matures.
6. Memorial Villages
The Memorial Villages area includes a group of small municipal jurisdictions along Memorial Drive in west Houston.
Violent crime is at 0.2. Property crime sits at 6.5, down from 7.6 in 2024. Vehicle theft reports remain at zero.
7. Colleyville
Colleyville continues to perform well year after year. Violent crime sits at 0.5. Property crime sits at 5.1. Residents often describe Colleyville as a place where very little changes in terms of safety trends, which can be valuable for families who value predictability.
8. Iowa Colony
Iowa Colony, in Brazoria County south of Houston, shows marked improvement for 2025. Violent crime declined from 1.6 to 0.7. Property crime fell from 6.9 to 4.8.
A wave of master planned development, new schools, and upgraded infrastructure drives much of the change. Growth has been strong but managed in a controlled way that supports long-term stability.
9. Fate
Fate sits east of Rockwall. Violent crime sits at 0.8. Property crime sits at 4.2. Rates stay consistently in low ranges year after year, which helps Fate maintain a reputation for quiet neighborhoods and steady conditions.
10. Heath
Heath sits along Lake Ray Hubbard. Violent crime sits at 0.7. Property crime sits at 4.8, with no reported vehicle thefts.
The city leans heavily toward owner-occupied housing, newer subdivisions, and a slower pace of development, all of which reinforce a low-risk profile.
Safest Large Cities and Suburbs in Texas for 2025
As data from different sources often varies, we also cross-referenced MoneyGeek’s evaluation of the cities with more than 100,000 residents nationwide and assigned a cost-of-crime value per capita using FBI data from 2023.
Texas performs well in that framework. Several large suburbs land near the top of the national list.
Summary
City Profiles (Large Suburbs)
Large suburbs in Texas tell a clearer story about long-term safety. Each one blends steady growth with local investment that keeps crime risk noticeably lower than the big metro cores.
Frisco
Frisco sits near the top of national lists for 2025 with a crime cost of only $287 per resident. That number reflects extremely low violent crime for a city with more than 200,000 residents.
Planned development, a large share of newer homes, strong revenue for public services, and consistent long-range planning help keep risk low.
Pearland
Pearland ranks 13th safest nationwide in MoneyGeek’s analysis and also appears as the No. 3 best place to live in the country according to U.S. News.
Public safety is a major part of that ranking. Residents point to strong schools, reliable hospital networks, and careful zoning as major contributors.
Crime rates remain modest for a mid-sized city with significant commercial and medical development.
Plano, Sugar Land, McKinney
Plano, Sugar Land, and McKinney each land inside the upper part of the national list. All three are mature suburbs with long-term stability, steady employment bases, and well-funded public safety departments.
Housing stock leans heavily toward single-family homes, which lowers exposure to high-turnover areas.
Round Rock
Round Rock ranks 26th nationwide with a crime cost of $575 per resident. The city recorded 138 violent crimes and 2,156 property crimes per 100,000 residents in 2023, which is low for a city of about 130,000.
According to My San Antonio, the city stands out for residents who want proximity to Austin without the elevated crime patterns that appear in some Austin neighborhoods.
Laredo – Safest Major City in Texas for 2025
WalletHub’s study ranks Laredo 13th nationwide for 2025. That makes it the safest large city in Texas for the fourth year in a row.
Laredo earns high marks in several categories:
- Strong home and community safety scores
- Low rates of mass shootings and hate crimes
- Low earthquake risk
- Stable employment patterns that soften financial risk metrics
- Lower than average fraud complaints
Local coverage points to a coordinated approach that involves city police, federal agencies, community volunteers, and long-term neighborhood programs.
Even with attention on border security in the national media, local data shows steady, low violent crime rates compared with cities of similar size.
How Texas Metros Compare
According to Chron, Houston ranks 176th out of 182 nationwide due to higher violent crime, traffic fatalities, and significant vulnerability to flooding and hurricanes. Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio sit in the middle to lower half of the list.
MoneyGeek notes that nearly all of the most dangerous cities in the country are large metros. Texas follows that pattern. Only one truly large Texas city makes the national top tier for safety, and that city is Laredo.
For people who want big city services with lower risk, El Paso and Laredo remain common choices.
For people who want very low crime and strong suburban consistency, Frisco, Pearland, Plano, McKinney, Sugar Land, Round Rock, and the SafeWise top 10 offer some of the clearest paths.
Our Methodology
- We relied on the latest publicly available data from the Texas Department of Public Safety and FBI crime reporting to establish a consistent baseline for comparison.
- We reviewed year-over-year changes in violent crime, property crime, and motor vehicle theft to track genuine movement, not one-year anomalies.
- We cross-referenced SafeWise, MoneyGeek, WalletHub, and major Texas news outlets to verify accuracy and confirm patterns across independent sources.
- We analyzed both raw crime rates and broader local conditions, including population growth, housing patterns, patrol strategies, and community engagement, to identify why certain cities perform better.
- We limited our final rankings to cities with reliable reporting histories, stable population counts, and consistent trends to ensure the list reflects real, measurable safety outcomes.
- We got in touch with some friends and ex-colleagues from Texas to confirm certain information and get some real perspective on the state of things.
Summary
Safety across Texas is moving in a stronger direction, especially for suburbs and mid-sized cities. Violent crime and property crime continue to ease statewide, even as vehicle theft rises.
Suburbs around Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston dominate the safest lists, while Laredo leads major cities for another year.
For anyone choosing a place to live, work, or raise a family in 2025, Texas offers a wide spectrum of options, from small towns with almost no violent crime to large suburbs that outrank nearly every other metro in the country.
The data tells a clear story of gradual improvement, strong local leadership, and communities that continue to invest in long-term safety.
References
- dps.texas.gov – Crime in Texas 2023
- safewise.com – Texas’s Safest Cities of 2025
- moneygeek.com – 2025’s Results: What Are the Safest Cities in the US?
- realestate.usnews.com – 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2025-2026
- mysanantonio.com – Austin suburb Round Rock named one of safest US cities, per new study
- wallethub.com – Safest Cities in America (2025)
- chron.com – Houston ranks 176th as crime, crashes and disasters take toll
