Want to feel safe in the Bay Area? Danville is your best bet

If you’ve ever had to live in a bad neighborhood where breakins, smashed car windows and purse snatchings seemed like everyday happenings, then safety may always be top of mind.

That’s why SafeWise, an online safety resource, produces its annual Safest Cities study.

The report looks at cities throughout the state to discover which are the safest places to live. The study analyzes FBI crime reporting statistics and census data to establish which cities are safe havens, despite the fact that California’s violent crime rate is slightly higher (4.51) than the national rate (4.49).

While Southern California claims 60% of the winners on this super safety list, the Bay Area nabbed the top honor. Danville, an affluent town in the San Ramon Valley, took first place out of 228 cities surveyed.

With a median income of $152,798 and a population of 45,088, as the report notes, Danville is a pocket of peace and quiet in Contra Costa County where property and violent crimes are at very low levels. There are only 0.35 violent crimes and 7.83 property crimes per 1,000 people in Danville, which also was dubbed safest city in the state last year.

Rounding out the Top 5 list: Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita, Yorba Linda and Murrieta.

Californians ranked property crime as their biggest safety concern, according to the report. Of the respondents, 64% ranked property crime as their top concern.

Also, 21% of respondents had a personal experience with property crime in the past year, and 16% were involved in a violent crime.

Earthquakes also are a key concern.

The Big One is the No. 2 environmental concern of

Californians. Sixty percent of respondents said shakers are their biggest natural disaster fear, coming in behind air quality (72%).

Another Bay Area city, San Ramon, also made the Top 10 for safety, coming in at No. 6. Pleasanton and

Sunnyvale ranked at respectable Nos. 19 and 20.

For the record, Oakland came in dead last in this ranking at No. 228.