SmartAsset, an online consumer-focused financial information website, has released its “America’s Safest Suburbs – 2025 Study,” ranking 360 U.S. suburbs (population ≥ 5,000, within 15–45 minutes of the 100 largest U.S. cities) by overall safety based on five key metrics. Rockville, MD comes in at #4, climbing eight spots from 12th in the 2023 report.

To determine the safest suburbs, SmartAsset evaluated each location on:

• Violent crime rate (incidents per 100,000 residents)

• Property crime rate (incidents per 100,000 residents)

• Vehicular mortality rate (traffic accident deaths per 100,000 residents)

• Drug poisoning mortality rate (overdose deaths per 100,000 residents)

• Percentage of adults engaging in excessive drinking

All public-safety data come from the FBI’s 2023 Uniform Crime Reporting database (city-level) and the 2025 County Health Rankings (county-level), supplemented as needed by NeighborhoodScout.com