Ranking Pittsburgh's Suburbs: Which is the Safest?

Using data from the Pennsylvania State Police, this category ranks a two-year average of reported incidents of criminal homicide, sex-related offenses, robbery, assault, property offenses, and drug and alcohol-related crimes. For assault, property crimes and drug and alcohol crimes, numbers are converted to a ratio per 100,000 population so as not to penalize larger communities that have correspondingly more incidents.

Best Safety: Fox Chapel

• Violent crimes in last two years: 0
   
• Property crimes (per 100K population): 626
   
• Alcohol-related crimes (per 100K population): 28

How to use this chart: Use your computer's “Find” function to search for your community. Hover over icons below chart to download or open in full screen.
 

Just what makes a suburb safe is a complex question but having a low crime rate certainly factors in at the top of the equation. To that end, Fox Chapel, an upscale community of approximately 5,400 residents, ranks at the peak of our list.
 

“We take a very personal, hands-on approach with our residents. We do it the old fashioned way and we’re fortunate we can still do that,” says Fox Chapel police Chief David M. Laux.

We looked at seven different factors to assess the overall safety of a suburb: criminal homicides, sex-related offenses, robberies, assaults, property offenses, drug violations and alcohol crimes, and Fox Chapel finished with a perfect overall safety score of 4.0. Neighboring suburbs Aspinwall and O’Hara Township also are in the top five among municipalities with at least 2,000 residents, along with Fawn and Liberty.

Over a two-year average of incidents reported to the Pennsylvania State Police, there were zero arrests made for criminal homicide, sex-related offenses, robberies and drug violations. Its 28 alcohol-related crimes per 100,000 people is the lowest reported in the region and 37 assaults per 100,000 people is among the top 10 best, too. Property crimes averaged 626 per 100,000, which, while higher than a handful of other locales, still firmly is in the top percentile. 

“Our residents are diligent and maintain a level of vigilance. Most homes have burglar alarms and people don’t have fear of notifying the police if they go out of town. We can check homes while they’re gone,” says Laux.