Several locations in the Midwest, including a handful of Chicago suburbs ranked high on a new list of the “safest and wealthiest” cities in the U.S., with one Chicago suburb landing in the top spot on the list of 50.
The report from personal finance website GoBankingRates analyzed 1,000 cities with the highest average incomes and evaluated them for violent and property crime rates, giving each city a score based on income and safety. The ranking used data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, Zillow Home Value Index, Federal Reserve Economic Data, AreaVibes, and the FBI.
Coming in the No. 1 spot on the list of safest and richest cities in America was Western Springs, with an average income of nearly $300,000 and a property crime rate of 2.65 per 1,000 people.
Chicago suburbs Winnetka and Kenilworth, also nabbed top spots on the list – No. 7 and No. 8, respectively – and while both have higher income averages, they had worse property crime rates, the ranking reported.
Other locations in the Midwest dominated the top 10. In Illinois, several other Chicago suburbs rounded out the top 50, including Libertyville, Hinsdale, Deerfield, Park Ridge, Elmhurst, Wilmette, LaGrange, Glen Ellyn and Naperville.
The top 10 cities on the list can be found below:
- Western Springs, Illinois
- Lexington, Massachusetts
- Winchester, Massachusetts
- Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
- Ottawa Hills, Ohio
- Winnetka, Illinois
- Kenilworth, Illinois
- University Park, Maryland
- Upper Arlington, Ohio
See the full ranking here.