A well-guarded military base can imply that such areas—including the nearby military towns—are safe and secure. According to the Military Family Advisory Network, 78% of surveyed military personnel still live off base and in the surrounding cities. This made us wonder which military towns in the US are the safest and which aren’t as secure for military personnel and civilians.
The team at Vivintsource.com looked at Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard installations to identify the ten safest and least safe military towns in the nation. Check out the details below to see where your military town ranks.
Data Highlights
Our research revealed the following data points:
- Among the ten safest military towns, three reported zero incidents of violent crime per 100,000 residents: Quantico, VA; Shiremanstown, PA; and Lakehurst, NJ. Lakehurst also has an overall national crime rate 52% lower than the national average.
- Two Coast Guard Yards in the two most dangerous military towns are located in Baltimore, which saw a murder rate ten times the national average in 2017. Homicides occurred at a rate of nearly one a day over the past three years, while arrests for those crimes dropped. In 2014, 41% of murders resulted in an arrest, but that figure fell to 27% by 2017.
- In New Jersey, home of two Navy bases and one Army base in the top ten safest military towns, violent crime fell 10% percent in 2017. The 22% decline in homicides that year was the largest percentage drop in such crimes in forty-one years.
- The Anniston Army Depot Base in Anniston, Alabama, isn’t just in the ten most dangerous military towns—it also has one of the highest crime rates in the country. One in twenty-nine residents of this small city is likely to be the victim of a violent crime.
Methodology
Using militarybases.com, we identified more than 300 active US military bases from all five branches of the armed services. We then examined the FBI’s 2017 Uniform Crime Reporting data for these areas, focusing on violent and property crime rates per capita for the city each base was located in (or the nearest city with available data). Cities without available crime data and their respective bases were excluded from the list. Due to the long-term negative impacts of violent crime, it was weighted five times heavier than property crime, which is typically prosecuted more lightly.
See the full list of military duty stations and their rankings below.
| Rank | Military Town | Base(s) | Branch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quantico, Virginia | Quantico Military Reservation Marine Corps | Marine |
| 2 | Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania | NSA Mechanicsburg Navy Base | Navy |
| 3 | Bedford, Massachusetts | Hanscom Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 4 | Colts Neck Township, New Jersey | NWS Earle Navy Base | Navy |
| 5 | Satellite Beach, Florida | Patrick Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 6 | Rockaway, New Jersey | Picatinny Arsenal Army Base | Army |
| 7 | Lakehurst, New Jersey | NAES Lakehurst Navy Base | Navy |
| 8 | Oak Harbor, Washington | NAS Whidbey Island Navy Base | Navy |
| 9 | White Hall, Arkansas | Pine Bluff Arsenal Army Base | Army |
| 10 | Sandwich, Massachusetts | Air Station Cape Cod Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 11 | Montgomery, Ohio | Wright Patterson Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 12 | Natick, Massachusetts | Soldier Systems Center Army Base | Army |
| 13 | North Chicago, Illinois | Great Lakes Training Center Navy Base | Navy |
| 14 | Valparaiso, Florida | Eglin Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 15 | Bowie, Maryland | Fort Meade Army Base | Army |
| 16 | Twentynine Palms, California | Twentynine Palms Marine Corps | Marine |
| 17 | Monroe, Wisconsin | Fort Mccoy Army Base | Army |
| 18 | Fairfax City, Virginia | Fort Belvoir Army Base | Army |
| 19 | Grovetown, Georgia | Fort Gordon Army Base | Army |
| 20 | Brunswick, Maine | NAS Brunswick Navy Base | Navy |
| 21 | Clare, Michigan | Selfridge ANGB Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 22 | Del Rio, Texas | Laughlin Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 23 | Ayer, Massachusetts | Fort Devens Army Base | Army |
| 24 | Alexandria, Virginia | Warrenton Training Center, Telecomo Systems Command, Henderson Hall | Army, Coast Guard, Marine |
| 25 | Portsmouth, New Hampshire | Portsmouth Shipyard Navy Base | Navy |
| 26 | Havelock, North Carolina | MCAS Cherry Point Marine Corps Base | Marine |
| 27 | Moscow, Pennsylvania | Tobyhanna Army Depot Base | Army |
| 28 | Bellevue, Nebraska | Offutt Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 29 | Elizabethtown, Kentucky | Fort Knox Army Base | Army |
| 30 | Abilene, Texas | Dyess Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 31 | Dublin, California | Camp Parks PRFTA Army Base | Army |
| 32 | Kingston, Tennessee | Holston Army Plant Army Base | Army |
| 33 | Virginia Beach, Virginia | NAS Oceana, Joint Expeditionary Fort Story Naval Base | Navy |
| 34 | Port Hueneme, California | NAS Point Mugu, Naval Battalion Center Navy Base | Navy |
| 35 | Saratoga Springs, New York | Saratoga Springs NSU Navy Base | Navy |
| 36 | Knob Noster, Missouri | Whiteman Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 37 | Cape May, New Jersey | Training Center Cape May Coast Guard | Coast Guard |
| 38 | Mountain Home, Idaho | Mountain Home Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 39 | Groton, Connecticut | Marine Safety Center Marine Base, Naval Submarine Base New London | Coast Guard, Navy |
| 40 | Carlisle, Pennsylvania | Carlisle Barracks Army Base | Army |
| 41 | Colonial Beach, Virginia | NSWC Dahlgren Naval Base | Navy |
| 42 | Valdez, Alaska | Marine Safety Unit Valdez Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 43 | Ingleside, Texas | NS Ingleside Navy Base | Navy |
| 44 | Jacksonville, North Carolina | Camp Lejeun, MCAS New River Marine Corps Base | Marine |
| 45 | Oak Island, North Carolina | Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point | Navy |
| 46 | Milton, Florida | NAS Whiting Field Navy Base | Navy |
| 47 | Radford, Virginia | Radford Army Ammunition Plant | Army |
| 48 | Southern Pines, North Carolina | Camp Mackall Army Base | Army |
| 49 | Port Townsend, Washington | Naval Magazine Indian Island | Navy |
| 50 | Falmouth, Massachusetts | Coast Guard Station Woods Hole | Coast Guard |
| 51 | Kingsland, Georgia | Kings Bay Submarine Navy Base | Navy |
| 52 | Petaluma, California | Tracen Petaluma Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 53 | Midway, Georgia | Fort Stewart Army Base | Army |
| 54 | Seal Beach, California | NWS Seal Beach Navy Base | Navy |
| 55 | Minot, North Dakota | Minot Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 56 | San Diego, California | Multiple | Marine, Navy |
| 57 | El Paso, Texas | Fort Bliss Army Base | Army |
| 58 | Madison, Alabama | Redstone Arsenal Army Base | Army |
| 59 | Aberdeen, Maryland | Aberdeen Proving Ground Army Base | Army |
| 60 | Honolulu, Hawaii | Hickam, Fort Shafter, Fort Derussy, Wheeler Army Airfield, Honolulu Coast Guard Base | Air Force, Army, Coast Guard |
| 61 | North Pole, Alaska | Eielson Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 62 | Eatontown, New Jersey | Fort Monmouth Army Base | Army |
| 63 | Altus, Oklahoma | Altus Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 64 | Tampa, Florida | Macdill Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 65 | Watervliet, New York | Watervilet Arsenal Army Base | Army |
| 66 | Port Royal, South Carolina | MCRD Parris Island Marine Corps Base | Marine |
| 67 | Hopkinsville, Kentucky | Fort Campbell Army Base | Army |
| 68 | Goose Creek, South Carolina | NWS Charleston Navy Base | Navy |
| 69 | Daleville, Alabama | Fort Rucker Army Base | Army |
| 70 | Chambersburg, Pennsylvania | Letterkenny Army Depot Army Base | Army |
| 71 | Oceanside, California | Naval Hospital Pendleton Navy Base | Navy |
| 72 | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Pope Air Force Base, Fort Bragg Army Base, Simmons Army Airfield | Air Force, Army |
| 73 | Chesapeake, Virginia | Finance Center Coast Guard Base, NSA Northwest Annex Navy Base | Coast Guard, Navy |
| 74 | Newport, Rhode Island | Station Castle Hill, NS Newport Naval Base | Coast Guard, Navy |
| 75 | Lemoore, California | NAS Lemoore Navy Base | Navy |
| 76 | Fort Walton Beach, Florida | Hurlburt Field Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 77 | Ridgecrest, California | NAWS China Lake Navy Base | Navy |
| 78 | Alameda, California | ISC Alameda Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 79 | Elizabeth City, North Carolina | Air Station Elizabeth City, National Strike Force Coast Guard | Coast Guard |
| 80 | Warren, Michigan | Detroit Arsenal Army Base | Army |
| 81 | Universal City, Texas | Randolph Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 82 | Hampton, Virginia | Langley Air Force Base, Fort Monroe Army Base | Air Force, Army |
| 83 | Richmond, Kentucky | Blue Grass Army Depot Base | Army |
| 84 | Key West, Florida | NAS Key West Navy Base | Navy |
| 85 | Fallon, Nevada | NAS Fallon Navy Base | Navy |
| 86 | Wichita Falls, Texas | Sheppard Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 87 | Alamogordo, New Mexico | Holloman Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 88 | Lompoc, California | Vandenberg Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 89 | Goldsboro, North Carolina | Seymour Johnson Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 90 | Chicopee, Massachusetts | Westover Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 91 | Tooele, Utah | Dugway Proving Ground Army Base | Army |
| 92 | Enid, Oklahoma | Vance Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 93 | Cheyenne, Wyoming | Francis E Warren Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 94 | Frederick, Maryland | Fort Detrick Army Base | Army |
| 95 | Fairfield, California | Travis Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 96 | Annapolis, Maryland | Naval Academy, NSA Annapolis, Naval Support Facility Thurmont/Camp David | Navy |
| 97 | Concord, California | Military Ocean Terminal Concord Navy Base | Navy |
| 98 | New London, Connecticut | Coast Guard Academy | Coast Guard |
| 99 | Sierra Vista, Arizona | Fort Huachuca Army Base | Army |
| 100 | El Segundo, California | Los Angeles Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 101 | Austin, Texas | Camp Mabry Army Base | Army |
| 102 | Yuma, Arizona | Yuma Proving Ground Army Base, MCAS Yuma Marine Corps Base | Army, Marine |
| 103 | Marietta, Georgia | Dobbins Air Reserve Base, NAS Atlanta Navy Base | Air Force, Navy |
| 104 | Newport News, Virginia | Fort Eustis Army Base | Army |
| 105 | San Luis Obispo, California | Camp San Luis Obispo Army Base | Army |
| 106 | La Plata, Maryland | NSF Indian Head Navy Base | Navy |
| 107 | Riverside, California | March Air Reserve Base Air Force | Air Force |
| 108 | Brownwood, Texas | Camp Bowie Army Base | Army |
| 109 | Bloomington, Indiana | NSWC Crane Division Navy Base | Navy |
| 110 | Kingsville, Texas | NAS Kingsville Navy Base | Navy |
| 111 | Clearwater, Florida | Air Station Clearwater Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 112 | Junction City, Kansas | Fort Riley Army Base | Army |
| 113 | Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan, Georgia | Hunter Army Airfield Army Base | Army |
| 114 | San Angelo, Texas | Goodfellow Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 115 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Air Force Academy, Cheyenne Mountain, Peterson, Schriever Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 116 | Lancaster, California | Edwards Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 117 | Hattiesburg, Mississippi | Camp Shelby Army Base | Army |
| 118 | Flagstaff, Arizona | Camp Navajo Army Base | Army |
| 119 | Belleville, Illinois | Scott Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 120 | Moline, Illinois | Rock Island Arsenal Army Base | Army |
| 121 | Fort Worth, Texas | JRB Fort Worth Navy Base | Navy |
| 122 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Creech Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 123 | Aurora, Colorado | Buckley Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 124 | Blackstone, Virginia | Fort Pickett Army Base | Army |
| 125 | El Centro, California | Naval Air Facility Navy Base | Navy |
| 126 | Tullahoma, Tennessee | Arnold Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 127 | Sacramento, California | Mcclellan Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 128 | Meridian, Mississippi | NAS Meridian Navy Base | Navy |
| 129 | Monterey, California | Presidio Of Monterey, Fort Hunter Liggett, Camp Roberts, Naval Postgraduate School | Army, Navy |
| 130 | Reno, Nevada | Hawthorne Army Depot Base | Army |
| 131 | Norfolk, Virginia | NAB Little Creek, NS Norfolk, SCSC Wallops Island Navy Base | Navy |
| 132 | Killeen, Texas | Fort Hood Army Base | Army |
| 133 | Bremerton, Washington | Navy Base Kitsap, Naval Hospital Bremerton Naval Base | Navy |
| 134 | Jacksonville, Florida | Blount Island Command, NAS Jacksonville, Naval Hospital Jacksonville | Marine, Navy |
| 135 | Pensacola, Florida | Training Center Corry, NAS Pensacola, Naval Hospital Pensacola Navy Base | Navy |
| 136 | Watertown, New York | Fort Drum Army Base | Army |
| 137 | Martinsburg, West Virginia | Operations Systems Center Coast Guard | Coast Guard |
| 138 | Everett, Washington | NS Everett Navy Base | Navy |
| 139 | Glendale, Arizona | Luke Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 140 | Ogden, Utah | Hill Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 141 | Rapid City, South Dakota | Ellsworth Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 142 | Leavenworth, Kansas | Fort Leavenworth Army Base | Army |
| 143 | Corpus Christi, Texas | Corpus Christi Army Depot, NAS Corpus Christi Navy Base | Army, Navy |
| 144 | Gulfport, Mississippi | Gulfport Battalion Center, Mississippi Gulfport Battalion Center | Air Force, Navy |
| 145 | Starke, Florida | Camp Blanding Army Base | Army |
| 146 | Great Falls, Montana | Malmstrom Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 147 | Youngstown, Ohio | Youngstown–Warren Air Reserve Station | Air Force |
| 148 | Emerado, North Dakota | Grand Forks Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 149 | Petersburg, Virginia | Fort Lee Army Base | Army |
| 150 | Milan, Tennessee | Milan Army Ammunition Plant Army Base | Army |
| 151 | North Las Vegas, Nevada | Nellis Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 152 | Phoenix, Arizona | Barry M Goldwater Range Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 153 | McAlester, Oklahoma | Mcalester Army Ammunition | Army |
| 154 | Miami, Florida | Homestead Air Reserve Base, District 7 Coast Guard Base | Air Force, Coast Guard |
| 155 | Fairbanks, Alaska | Fort Wainwright, Fort Greely Army Base | Army |
| 156 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Tinker Air Force Base, Coast Guard Institute | Air Force, Coast Guard |
| 157 | Bastrop, Texas | Camp Swift Army Base | Army |
| 158 | Yakima, Washington | Yakima Training Center Army Base | Army |
| 159 | Columbus, Georgia | Fort Benning Army Base | Army |
| 160 | St. Robert, Missouri | Fort Leonard Wood Army Base | Air Force |
| 161 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Naval Support Activity | Navy |
| 162 | Dover, Delaware | Dover Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 163 | Marysville, California | Beale Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 164 | Warner Robins, Georgia | Robins Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 165 | Valdosta, Georgia | Moody Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 166 | North Little Rock, Arkansas | Camp Joseph Robinson Army Base | Army |
| 167 | Kodiak, Alaska | ISC Kodiak Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 168 | Pascagoula, Mississippi | NS Pascagoula Navy Base | Navy |
| 169 | Lawton, Oklahoma | Fort Sill Army Base | Army |
| 170 | Beaufort, South Carolina | MCAS Beaufort, Naval Hospital Beaufort | Army, Navy |
| 171 | Biloxi, Mississippi | Keesler Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 172 | San Antonio, Texas | Lackland Air Force Base, Fort Sam Houston, Camp Bullis, Martindale Army Airfield | Air Force, Army |
| 173 | Bossier City, Louisiana | Barksdale Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 174 | Sumter, South Carolina | Shaw Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 175 | Bernalillo, New Mexico | Kirtland Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 176 | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | New Cumberland Army Depot Army Base | Army |
| 177 | District of Columbia | Multiple | Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine, Navy |
| 178 | Forest Park, Georgia | Fort Gillem Army Base | Army |
| 179 | Columbia, South Carolina | Fort Jackson Army Base | Army |
| 180 | West Palm Beach, Florida | Autec Complex Navy Base | Navy |
| 181 | Jacksonville, Arkansas | Little Rock Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 182 | Trenton, New Jersey | Mcguire Air Force Base, Fort Dix Army Base | Air Force, Army |
| 183 | Clovis, New Mexico | Cannon Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 184 | Mobile, Alabama | Aviation Training Center Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 185 | Orlando, Florida | Naval Air Warfare Center Navy Base | Navy |
| 186 | Tucson, Arizona | Davis Monthan Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 187 | Portsmouth, Virginia | Sector Hampton Roads, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Medical Center Portsmouth | Coast Guard, Navy |
| 188 | Susanville, California | Sierra Army Depot Army Base | Army |
| 189 | Fort Smith, Arkansas | Fort Chaffee Army Base | Army |
| 190 | Houston, Texas | Medical Education and Training Campus Fort Sam | Navy |
| 191 | Tacoma, Washington | Mcchord Air Force Base, Camp Murray, Fort Lewis Army Base | Air Force, Army |
| 192 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Marine Corps Support Facility, NSA New Orleans Navy Base | Marine, Navy |
| 193 | Juneau, Alaska | Uscg Juneau Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 194 | North Charleston, South Carolina | Joint Base Charleston Air Force, Naval Hospital Charleston Navy Base | Air Force, Navy |
| 195 | Millington, Tennessee | NSA Mid South Naval Base | Navy |
| 196 | Spokane, Washington | Fairchild Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 197 | Barstow, California | Fort Irwin Army Base, MCLB Barstow Marine Corps Base | Army, Marine |
| 198 | Panama City, Florida | Tyndall Air Force Base, NAS Panama City Navy Base | Air Force, Navy |
| 199 | Wichita, Kansas | Mcconnell Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 200 | Albany, Georgia | MCLB Albany Army Base | Marine |
| 201 | Texarkana, Texas | Red River Army Depot Army Base | Army |
| 202 | Anchorage, Alaska | Elmendorf Air Force Base | Air Force |
| 203 | Pineville, Louisiana | Camp Beauregard Army Base | Army |
| 204 | Cleveland, Ohio | ISC Cleveland Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 205 | Edinburgh, Indiana | Camp Atterbury Army Base | Army |
| 206 | Miami Beach, Florida | ISC Miami Coast Guard Base | Coast Guard |
| 207 | Baltimore, Maryland | Coast Guard Yard, Surface Forces Logistics Coast Guard | Coast Guard |
| 208 | Leesville, Louisiana | Fort Polk Army Base | Army |
| 210 | Anniston, Alabama | Anniston Army Depot Base | Army |
Reporters can email questions to media@vivintsource.com.
Stay Safe in Any Military Town
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