Between ATM ram robberies and even homicides, it’s easy to feel like the East Bay isn’t as safe as it once was.
To be clear, pretty much every town in the 925 counts as a very safe place to live, when you look at national rankings.
But one town apparently takes the cake. An annual study of crime and safety in California has just ranked one of our local towns as the Safest in California.
So, which town is it?
Danville just grabbed the No. 1 spot on a new statewide safety ranking — and another 680-corridor neighbor made the top 10, too.
The small Contra Costa County town in the heart of the San Ramon Valley, was named the safest city in California for 2026 in SafeWise’s latest annual report.
SafeWise says its “safest” and “dangerous” labels refer specifically to crime rates calculated from FBI crime data (and are not meant as a broader judgment about any community). In this year’s California report, 169 cities met the criteria to be considered for ranking.
In the top 10 list, Danville came in at No. 1, with San Ramon also landing in the top tier at No. 9.
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On SafeWise’s list, Danville is shown with a population of 42,814 and extremely low per-capita crime rates: a violent-crime rate of 0.6 incidents per 1,000 residents and a property-crime rate of 5.9 per 1,000.
Danville has been getting even safer! SafeWise notes Danville was last year’s No. 2 and moved up to take the top spot this year.
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Danville’s safety, the report says, stems from a unique combination — a relatively mid-sized suburb with a busy downtown and lots of commuters.
Of course, no town is perfect. A high profile smash-in at Lottie’s in Danville shocked the community last year.
But again, looking at the overall data, Danville is a safe as towns can get.
Interestingly, when Safewise asked Californians about crime, many were more worried about cybercrimes than violent ones.
Here’s the statewide top 10 SafeWise published for 2026: Danville, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lincoln, Moorpark, Yorba Linda, Calexico, Poway, Laguna Niguel, San Ramon, and Thousand Oaks.
You’ll note that only two Bay Area cities made the cut–and both are in the 925! So although crime might feel like a huge issue here, we’re actually leading the pack.
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