The Safest Cities in America for Trick-or-Treating in 2025

Top 10 Safest Cities for Trick-or-Treating

1. Yonkers, New York
2. Naperville, Illinois
3. New York, New York
4. Gilbert, Arizona
5. Frisco, Texas
6. Surprise, Arizona
7. Honolulu, Hawaii
8. Scottsdale, Arizona
9. McKinney, Texas
10. Irvine, California

These ten cities came out on top after we implemented a thorough scoring system. All of the cities in our ranking had at least 150,000 residents, and we standardized each safety metric by calculating it per 10,000 residents. To score these cities across America, we evaluated five key safety factors, weighted according to their importance for secure trick-or-treating:

Complete Rankings: Safest Cities for Trick or Treating

Interestingly, a few major metro areas dominated the top 25 rankings:

• In the Phoenix metro, four suburbs (Gilbert, Surprise, Scottsdale, and Chandler) ranked among the top 25 safest cities for trick-or-treating.
• In the Dallas–Fort Worth area, another four suburbs (Frisco, McKinney, Grand Prairie, and Plano) placed in the top 25.
  Three Chicago-area cities (Naperville, Aurora, and Joliet) ranked in the top 25 safest for Halloween night.
• Finally, three New York metro cities (Yonkers, New York City, and Jersey City) were included among the top 25 safest trick-or-treating destinations.

Additionally, five California cities made the top 25 list, including two in the Sacramento metro area, two in Orange County, and one outside Los Angeles.

Breaking Down the Safest Cities for Halloween Trick-or-Treating

1. Yonkers, New York

• Law enforcement officers per 10k: 3
• Registered sex offenders per 10k: 5.9
• Violent crime per 10k: 31.2
• Property crime per 10k: 101.5
• Pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0

Just north of New York City along the Hudson River, Yonkers takes the top spot thanks to its strong police presence and remarkably low crime rates. Yonkers is sometimes referred to as New York’s “sixth borough,” where people can  With 34 law enforcement officers per 10,000 residents and no pedestrian fatalities reported in a year period, families can worry less about letting kids roam neighborhood streets. Low violent and property crime rates further make Yonkers an especially secure environment for trick-or-treating.

2. Naperville, Illinois

• Law enforcement officers per 10k: 17.9
• Registered sex offenders per 10k: 2.4
• Violent crime per 10k: 8.4
• Property crime per 10k: 88.4
• Pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.1

The Chicago suburb of Naperville is consistently ranked among the safest cities in the U.S., and its Halloween safety stats reinforce that reputation. Located about 30 miles from downtown Chicago, the city boasts some of the lowest violent crime rates (8.4 per 10,000) and a very low number of registered sex offenders. Combined with minimal pedestrian fatalities, Naperville offers a safe, family-friendly atmosphere perfect for Halloween night.

3. New York, New York

• Law enforcement officers per 10k: 56.4
• Registered sex offenders per 10k: 5.4
• Violent crime per 10k: 67.1
• Property crime per 10k: 236.8
• Pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.1

As the nation’s largest city, New York might seem like an unexpected Halloween safety leader, but it earns a top spot thanks to an exceptionally high law enforcement presence—over 56 officers per 10,000 residents. In fact, the New York City Police Department is the nation’s largest, and crime rates in the city have been generally declining in recent months. The city’s very high walkability score also means its’s especially convenient and safe for families to go door-to-door without relying on cars. Of course, in a city as large as New York, certain neighborhoods are safer than others, such as Staten Island, Battery Park City in Manhattan, and Fresh Meadows in Queens.

4. Gilbert, Arizona

• Law enforcement officers per 10k: 16.9
• Registered sex offenders per 10k: 3.9
• Violent crime per 10k: 13.2
• Property crime per 10k: 96.8
• Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.1

Located just southeast of Phoenix, Gilbert is one of the fastest-growing communities in Arizona and in the U.S. Despite its growth, it has earned a reputation for safety. With low violent crime (13.2 incidents in a year per 10,000 residents), very few pedestrian fatalities, and a relatively small number of registered sex offenders, families in Gilbert enjoy a secure setting for Halloween night festivities.

5. Frisco, Texas

• Law enforcement officers per 10k: 15.4
• Registered sex offenders per 10k: 1.4
• Violent crime per 10k: 10.1
• Property crime per 10k: 100.3
• Average annual pedestrian fatalities per 10k: 0.1

Part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Frisco is a booming suburb known for its family-oriented neighborhoods and strong community safety. It stands out with a very low violent crime rate for 2024 (10.1 per 10,000) and one of the lowest rates of registered sex offenders among the top cities. With its fast growth matched by a commitment to public safety, Frisco kids can trick-or-treat with confidence.

Safety Tips for Trick-or-Treating

No matter where you live, there are a few ways to increase your kids’ safety on October 31. Here are our recommendations to make this Halloween your family’s safest one yet:

1. Stick to well-lit, walkable areas
   When deciding where to go trick-or-treating, consider places with streetlights and sidewalks. You can always visit nearby communities if your own neighborhood doesn’t have lights or paths. Well-lit streets make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians and for parents to keep a watchful eye on their kids, and sidewalks make it much easier to stay out of traffic. You can also opt for “trunk-or-treat” style events, where everyone’s cars remain parked in place while kids exchange candy.
2. Wear reflective gear and glow sticks
   Dark costumes are spooky, but they can make kids hard for drivers to see at night. Add reflective tape, flashlights, glow sticks, or LED lights to costumes and candy bags so drivers and other trick-or-treaters can easily spot them. Bonus points if they coordinate with your costume (think construction workers or firefighters wearing reflective gear or glow-in-the-dark skeletons).
3. Travel in groups with an adult
   Remember, there is safety in numbers. Big kids should always trick-or-treat in groups, and younger kids should have a responsible adult with them. Before heading out for the night, set some ground rules with your children, reminding them to stick close to mom or dad and keep an eye out for younger siblings.
4. Cross streets carefully
   Halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year for pedestrian accidents. To reduce your risk of accidents, remind kids to cross streets safety: look both ways before crossing, cross only at designated crosswalks and never between parked cars, and always make eye contact with drivers before stepping into the street.

Methodology

This study ranks 161 U.S. cities according to their relative safety for children and families participating in trick-or-treating on Halloween night. The analysis integrates crime, traffic safety, and public safety resources into a composite Safety Index, ensuring that comparisons are made on a standardized basis across cities of varying size.

The primary data sources include:

• U.S. Census Bureau 2024 population estimates
• 2024 Crime in the U.S. report, Table 8 “Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, by State by City.”
• FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program (law enforcement staffing figures)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2023 pedestrian fatality data
• City-Data’s September 2025 registry of sex offenders
• Walk Score (September 2025) for supplemental context

To ensure comparability, all raw crime or incident counts were converted into per-capita rates per 10,000 residents. Each per-capita measure was standardized using z-scores, which express values in terms of standard deviations from the mean across all 161 cities. Negative indicators (crime, pedestrian deaths, sex offenders) were inverted so that higher standardized values reflected safer outcomes, while positive indicators (law enforcement employees per capita) were retained as-is. The index assigned weights to safety factors as follows:

These components were combined into a weighted composite score, which was rescaled to a 0–100 index for interpretability. Higher scores represent safer environments for trick-or-treating. Cities were then ranked from highest to lowest, providing a relative comparison of trick-or-treat safety across the U.S. The final results balance statistical rigor, contextual relevance, and public transparency, while allowing readers the flexibility to consider walkability as an independent factor in their decision-making.