Jamestown Named North Dakota's Safest City by SafeWise Rankings

Jamestown landed at the top of SafeWise's annual ranking of North Dakota's safest cities for 2026, a distinction earned by back-to-back-to-back declines in both violent and property crime that the national safety research firm called "extremely rare among all of America's safest cities."

The numbers behind the title are stark. Jamestown's violent crime rate dropped to 0.9 incidents per 1,000 residents this year, down from 1.9 in 2025 and 2.3 in 2024, a more than 50% reduction in just two years. Property crime followed a similar arc, falling to 12.8 incidents per 1,000 residents from 19.0 last year and 20.2 the year before. Measured against SafeWise's 2022 baseline, the property crime rate has now been cut nearly in half.

SafeWise builds its rankings using FBI Uniform Crime Report data, calculating violent and property crime rates per 1,000 residents to allow fair comparisons across cities of different sizes. The firm is explicit about what the label covers and what it does not: "safe" refers strictly to those crime metrics, with no broader claim about quality of life, economic health, or a neighborhood's character. This year, only 12 North Dakota cities submitted complete enough data to qualify for ranking, nine fewer than last year, meaning Jamestown claimed the top spot in a smaller but more rigorously filtered field.

The Jamestown-Stutsman Development Corporation has already moved to leverage the recognition, highlighting the SafeWise accolade in its ongoing effort to attract new residents and businesses to the region. For economic development purposes, a verifiable, data-backed safety ranking carries more weight than anecdotal reputation, giving recruiters a concrete talking point when competing with other Midwestern cities.

One caveat worth noting: Jamestown's property crime rate of 12.8 per 1,000 was the highest recorded by any #1-ranked safest city across all 50 states in the SafeWise report, a reminder that topping a state list does not mean immunity from crime. Larceny and theft remain the most common offenses, consistent with national patterns for cities its size.

What distinguishes Jamestown is the direction and consistency of the trend. Most cities that appear on safest-city lists show mixed results, with one crime category improving while another rises. Jamestown reduced both violent and property crime simultaneously for at least three consecutive years, a pattern SafeWise analysts flagged as the city's most compelling credential. At roughly 15,600 residents, Jamestown also punches above its weight class, outranking larger I-94 corridor cities in the final standings.