Georgia’s 20 Safest Cities of 2022

The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the eighth annual Safest Cities report.

See if your city made the full list.

Georgians are the most likely of all Americans to think crime is decreasing, and it makes sense considering that The Peach State experienced the most significant decrease in property crime nationwide since the previous reporting year. However, violent crime rose in Georgia during the same period.

• Violent crime rates
• Property crime rates
• Interesting findings
• The Safest Cities
• Methodology
• How to make a safe home anywhere
• How other cities compare
• How other states compare

Georgia’s crime rates aren’t too far from national averages, but they fluctuated significantly year over year. Violent crime in The Peach State increased by 24% while property crime decreased by 27%.

According to our latest State of Safety survey, 56% of Georgia residents feel concerned about their safety on a daily basis, which is higher than the national average (47%) and how Georgians felt according to last year’s survey (47%). 

Georgians tie with Virginians as the Americans most likely to think that crime is decreasing (15%; US 8%). However, Georgians feel more concerned about violent crime, property crime, package theft, and gun violence than the average American. 

50% of Georgians feel safe in their state, lower than the national average of 55%.

We asked Georgia residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Georgians are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.

View the complete 2022 State of Safety report.

Violent crime represents 17% of all crime in Georgia and occurs at a rate of 4.0 crimes per 1,000 people. Both figures match the national average, but Georgians who took our survey claimed they experienced more violent crimes than the average American (GA 13% vs. US 10%).

• Georgia saw the third-highest increase in violent crime among all states: 24%. 
• Georgia reported 943 murders in the last year, which is the sixth-highest number in the US. 
• Georgia ranks tenth in the nation for most robberies and aggravated assaults. 
• 87 people were injured and 29 were killed in 22 mass shooting events in Georgia this reporting year. 
• 39% of Georgians use some form of personal protection (US 34%) with pepper spray leading the way at 18%.
• 54% of Georgia residents say their personal safety has been affected by the pandemic (US 44%).

Georgia experienced the nation’s largest decrease in property crime (27%) during the 2022 reporting year. Our State of Safety survey results also reflect this decrease in property crime.

• 15% of Georgians said they had experienced property crime in the 12 months prior to the survey, compared to 28% the previous year. 
• Georgia’s property crime rate of 20.1 sits above the national average of 19.6 and the South Atlantic average of 18.9. 
• Larceny-theft represents 74% of property crime in Georgia, which is 3 percentage points higher than the national average.
• 75% of Georgians use some form of property protection. This is 15 percentage points higher than the national average and represents a 67% increase year over year.
• Of the Georgia residents who use property protection, most prefer security cameras (37%) or security systems (35%).
• 39% of Georgians say the security of their property has been affected by the pandemic (US 29%).

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• 73 Georgia cities met the criteria to be considered for ranking, which is close to double last year’s 39 eligible cities. 
• Johns Creek is 1 of 8 new cities in the top 20, displacing Milton from the top spot.
• Fairburn made the most impressive leap up the rankings, climbing 17 spots to land in tenth place this year. 
• Of the safest cities in Georgia that were repeats from last year, 5 experienced declines in both violent crime and property crime: Tyrone, Hampton, Fairburn, Suwanee, and Sandersville.
• Sandy Springs—the most populous of Georgia’s 20 safest cities—reported the most murders, rapes, and robberies of all the Georgia cities on this year’s list, but didn’t have the highest number of aggravated assaults (that was Alpharetta). 
• Tyrone, Hampton, and Peachtree City reported 5 or fewer aggravated assaults.
• Tyrone, Hampton, Douglas, Fairburn, and Sandersville reported fewer than 10 burglaries.
• Douglas, Flowery Branch, and Sandersville reported fewer than 5 motor vehicle thefts.

VC=Violent crime
PC=Property crime

Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.

Whether your city made our list or not, we encourage everyone to be proactive about home security. One of the best ways to stop a burglary before it happens is to add a home security system.

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We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population as calculated using FBI data. To request a report of the remaining cities in your state, sign up for our email newsletter (we make it easy in a quick form below!) or email info@safewise.com with the subject line: Safest Cities Full Report.

NOTE: If you don’t see your city on the list, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2020.

Click on the state image or dropdown menu below to check out the safest cities for each state.

• Best Home Security Systems
• Best Home Security Cameras
• Best Video Doorbell Cameras
• Burglary Stats & Facts
• The Most Burglarized City in Every State

FBI: Crime Data Explorer, Accessed March 8, 2022.

US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed January 24, 2022.

Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 24, 2022.

SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 8, 2022.

Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 24, 2022.

Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 8, 2022.

Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 8, 2022.

For definitions and more on data sources, see our methodology page.