Safest Counties in Pennsylvania: 37 Ranked (2026)
The 37 Pennsylvania counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Pennsylvania has 67 counties. Thirty-seven of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Lebanon at 69 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Philadelphia at 845, is 12 to one. What homes closed at over the last 12 months sits beside the rate where Resideline has enough sales to publish a median: 157,129 closing records tracked in the 28 counties that clear that bar.
The crime rates here are built from the 11,281,399 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lebanon | 69 | 734 | n/a | n/a | $74,200 |
| 2 | Bucks | 71 | 857 | $499,975 | $2,600 | $112,331 |
| 3 | Wayne | 74 | 464 | $295,000 | $1,750 | $67,672 |
| 4 | Indiana | 75 | 766 | $155,000 | $1,295 | $61,768 |
| 5 | Adams | 82 | 415 | $318,000 | $1,400 | $85,854 |
| 6 | Cumberland | 87 | 750 | $315,000 | $1,825 | $90,939 |
| 7 | Chester | 90 | 593 | $535,007 | $2,395 | $130,877 |
| 8 | Lancaster | 95 | 643 | $350,000 | $1,695 | $85,829 |
| 9 | Lycoming | 102 | 973 | n/a | n/a | $61,034 |
| 10 | Northumberland | 103 | 566 | $116,000 | $1,050 | $61,984 |
| 11 | Butler | 105 | 651 | $339,022 | $1,700 | $95,450 |
| 12 | Montgomery | 110 | 1,488 | $436,038 | $2,200 | $111,915 |
| 13 | Berks | 118 | 764 | $290,000 | $1,700 | $78,176 |
| 14 | Northampton | 120 | 871 | $355,000 | $1,900 | $89,712 |
| 15 | Monroe | 127 | 887 | $315,000 | $2,000 | $76,974 |
| 16 | Columbia | 134 | 668 | n/a | n/a | $65,026 |
| 17 | Franklin | 139 | 832 | n/a | n/a | $75,061 |
| 18 | Centre | 141 | 769 | $365,000 | $1,895 | $76,524 |
| 19 | Washington | 142 | 567 | $255,290 | $1,250 | $76,961 |
| 20 | Carbon | 146 | 819 | $250,000 | $1,400 | $66,998 |
| 21 | Lehigh | 148 | 1,039 | $340,000 | $1,900 | $80,820 |
| 22 | York | 152 | 764 | $286,881 | $1,495 | $81,537 |
| 23 | Bradford | 154 | 625 | n/a | n/a | $62,009 |
| 24 | Blair | 160 | 1,176 | $150,000 | $975 | $65,984 |
| 25 | Cambria | 168 | 812 | $119,900 | $950 | $61,223 |
| 26 | Delaware | 168 | 1,523 | n/a | n/a | $90,113 |
| 27 | Lawrence | 173 | 784 | n/a | n/a | $59,609 |
| 28 | Luzerne | 177 | 1,006 | n/a | n/a | $66,221 |
| 29 | Beaver | 181 | 810 | $217,417 | $1,095 | $73,077 |
| 30 | Mercer | 186 | 770 | $170,000 | $950 | $61,006 |
| 31 | Erie | 200 | 1,360 | $188,608 | $1,195 | $63,912 |
| 32 | Crawford | 205 | 693 | n/a | n/a | $58,757 |
| 33 | Lackawanna | 216 | 882 | $230,000 | $1,350 | $67,341 |
| 34 | Fayette | 236 | 1,310 | $155,000 | $900 | $60,039 |
| 35 | Dauphin | 258 | 1,108 | $249,400 | $1,550 | $72,875 |
| 36 | Allegheny | 267 | 1,405 | $250,000 | $1,500 | $80,878 |
| 37 | Philadelphia | 845 | 4,494 | $249,368 | $1,700 | $60,500 |
A closer look at the 12 safest counties
1. Lebanon County
Lebanon records 69 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Pennsylvania counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Property offenses run at 734 per 100,000, in the middle of this list.
2. Bucks County
At 71 violent offenses per 100,000, Bucks sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. A median closing price of $499,975 puts it at roughly 184 percent of the middle figure for this list. That combination, among the safest counties here and among the most expensive, is what most buyers are picturing when they pay a premium for a quiet address. A typical home costs 4.5 years of the median household's income, near the top of this list. Property offenses run at 857 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. For prices at street level, see Levittown, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
3. Wayne County
Wayne records 74 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Pennsylvania counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median closed price, $295,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. The gap between local wages and local prices is wide: 4.4 times household income, in the top quarter of these counties. Property crime is low too, at 464 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,750 a month.
4. Indiana County
Indiana's violent crime rate is 75 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Pennsylvania counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. A median closing price of $155,000 puts it at roughly 57 percent of the middle figure for this list. It lands in the bottom quarter for crime and the bottom quarter for price at the same time, which few counties manage. Against local incomes it is among the most affordable counties measured, at 2.5 times median household income. Asking rents of $1,295 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return.
5. Adams County
Adams records 82 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Pennsylvania counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median home closed at $318,000, roughly 117 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Median household income is $85,854, roughly 117 percent of the level across this list. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 415 per 100,000, or 0.3 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,400 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Gettysburg, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
6. Cumberland County
Police in Cumberland reported 87 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $315,000, some 116 percent of the level across the counties measured. Median household income is $90,939, roughly 124 percent of the level across this list. Property offenses run at 750 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Asking rents run about $1,825 a month. For prices at street level, see Mechanicsburg, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
7. Chester County
Chester's violent crime rate is 90 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Pennsylvania counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Homes changed hands at a median $535,007, around 197 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Safe and expensive is the usual pairing on this list, and this is one of its clearest cases. A typical home costs 4.1 years of the median household's income, near the top of this list. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 593 per 100,000, or 0.5 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for West Chester, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
8. Lancaster County
Lancaster records 95 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Pennsylvania counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. A median closing price of $350,000 puts it at roughly 129 percent of the middle figure for this list. Low crime and high prices arrive together here, which is the arrangement buyers assume is universal and is not. Households there earn a median of $85,829, about 117 percent of the median for these counties. Property crime is low too, at 643 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.5 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Lancaster, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
9. Lycoming County
Lycoming's violent crime rate is 102 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Pennsylvania counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Median household income is $61,034, roughly 84 percent of the level across this list. Property offenses run at 973 per 100,000, in the middle of this list.
10. Northumberland County
Police in Northumberland reported 103 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $116,000, around 43 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Quiet and inexpensive together is the rarest pairing on a list like this, and this is one of them. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 1.9 times the median household income. Asking rents of $1,050 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return.
11. Butler County
At 105 violent offenses per 100,000, Butler sits in the middle range of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median home closed at $339,022, roughly 125 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Households there earn a median of $95,450, about 131 percent of the median for these counties. Property crime is low, at 651 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.5 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,700 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Butler, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
12. Montgomery County
Montgomery records 110 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Pennsylvania counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. A median closing price of $436,038 puts it at roughly 161 percent of the middle figure for this list. Households there earn a median of $111,915, about 153 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate of 1,488 per 100,000 is in the top quarter here, and 1.3 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $2,200 a month. For prices at street level, see Pottstown, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
Does safety set the price in Pennsylvania?
Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 47 percent above the highest-crime third on price. The same safe places also earn 32 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.
That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.
That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.
Where safety and affordability overlap in Pennsylvania
Three of the 12 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Indiana (75 violent per 100,000, a home at 2.5 times median household income); Cumberland (87 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.5 times median household income); Northumberland (103 violent per 100,000, a home at 1.9 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
The large counties
Seven counties here have more than 500,000 residents. Their median violent rate is 110 per 100,000 against 144 for the smaller counties on the list, and the quietest of them is Bucks at 71. It closes homes at a median of $499,975.
The counties we cannot rank
Set aside after checking the state's own figures:
- •Pike, with about 62,000 residents: no state figure could be obtained and every FBI-derived aggregator runs 1.5 to 2.9 times the 2025 figure, so this county is set aside until it can be checked.
- •Westmoreland, with about 351,000 residents, reports 87 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
How to read this list
A rate like this averages everything inside the area, from its downtown to its farmland, and the spread within one of them is often wider than the spread between them. Use it to shortlist, then look at the specific address and the block it sits on.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Pennsylvania housing market; Safest counties in Maryland; Safest counties in New Jersey; Safest counties in Ohio; Safest counties in West Virginia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in Pennsylvania?
Of the 37 Pennsylvania counties measured here, Lebanon County records the lowest violent crime rate at 69 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county.
Is this every county in Pennsylvania?
No. It covers 37 of the state's 67 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. The larger places that miss those bars are listed on the page with the reason.
Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?
Less than most people assume. Comparing the safest third of these counties with the highest-crime third, the median closed price is 47 percent higher and household income 32 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.