The City of Danville has moved up SafeWise’s list of California’s safest cities. Last year, Danville ranked No. 2. The recently published rankings for 2026 put Danville in the No. 1 spot, with Rancho Santa Margarita as the runner-up.
SafeWise relied on the most recent crime data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. The researchers also surveyed residents across all 50 states, gathering their opinions on crime.
California residents remain extremely concerned about public safety — although those concerns do appear to be declining.
According to SafeWise, “67% of Californians said they are highly concerned about violent crime happening to them. That’s down from 72% the year before but much higher than the national average of 55%.”
These are the ten safest cities in the Golden State in 2026, according to SafeWise:
Danville
Rancho Santa Margarita
Lincoln
Moorpark
Yorba Linda
Calexico
Poway
Laguna Niguel
San Ramon
Thousand Oaks
See the full list here.