Choosing where to live can involve balancing opportunity and security. Big cities offer diverse job markets, extensive amenities and greater access to public services. But they also sometimes come with more acute safety concerns. While no major population center is entirely free from danger, some are more successful than others at creating environments where people can live, work and travel with confidence. In this follow-up to SmartAsset’s America’s Safest Midsize Cities study, SmartAsset examined 83 U.S. cities with populations of 250,000 or greater — more than 90% of America’s big cities — to identify the nation’s safest. Cities were ranked using composite scores based on violent crime, property crime, traffic fatality rates and disaster risk. Key Findings - Virginia Beach is America’s safest big city. Virginia Beach, Virginia, has below-average violent and property crime rates — 0.9 and 16.4 per 1,000 residents, respectively — and a modest motor vehicle fatality rate of about seven per 100,000 residents. Its “relatively low” FEMA disaster risk rating, a metric measuring expected disaster losses, social vulnerability and community resilience, helps support its top-tier rank. - Memphis ranks last. High crime and motor vehicle fatality rates, along with a “relatively high” FEMA disaster risk rating, combined to place Bluff City at the bottom of the rankings. - Texas is home to some of America’s safest and least safe cities. Twelve Texas cities were included in the rankings, and the Lone Star State is the only one with cities among both the 10 safest (Plano and Laredo) and the 10 least safe (Dallas and Houston). - Disaster risk can affect otherwise safe cities. Despite moderate violent and property crime rates, Irvine, California (No. 12), and Santa Ana, California (No. 20), both landed outside the top 10 safest cities. The two cities share the highest possible disaster