Fort Worth ranked third-safest large city in the country

By Anna Gasowski, Staff Writer

Published Sep 25, 2025

Downtown Fort Worth mixes its urban landscape with its historical, old-timey feel. Dallas, on the other hand, embraces its modernity with neon lights and towering skyscrapers. (Garrett Cook/Staff Writer)

A new study ranks Fort Worth as the third-safest of the 50 most populous cities in the U.S.

SmartAsset, a financial technology company, considered the categories of violent crime, property crime, vehicular deaths, drug overdose deaths and excessive drinking in its analysis of the 50 largest cities. San Jose and Los Angeles, California, claimed the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.

Data from SmartAsset’s website shown in the table compared Fort Worth to other top cities in the country, even including nearby Arlington as No. 7 on the list.

The Fort Worth Police Department said they were proud to carry the top-tier ranking of public safety, but said this doesn’t sway officers from cracking down on crime by developing new strategies to keep the community safe.

According to an article published recently by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth crime is down 13% compared to this time last year. On the flip side, there was still a 39% increase in murder and manslaughter from this time last year, according to the city’s quarterly crime report.

FWPD has an 83% clearance rate for homicides, which shows that offenders are being tracked down at a quicker rate, the Star-Telegram noted.

“Overall, violent crime and property crime rates continue to trend down in Fort Worth; however, gang and gun violence are areas we remain focused on,” Tracy Carter, FWPD public information officer, said.

TCU Police has a close partnership with the Fort Worth Police Department, Carter said.

“We have an NPO (neighborhood police officer) dedicated to the TCU area that is the primary point of contact between FWPD and TCU PD in the immediate areas around campus,” Carter said.

In recent years, police have increased patrols and security in off-campus areas that students frequent.

“If you are downtown, in West 7th, the Stockyards or any of our other entertainment areas, there will be officers nearby — if you don’t feel safe or you see something wrong, say something,” Carter said.

Fort Worth ranked on the low end of drug overdoses compared to other cities in the ranking.

“We have a narcotics enforcement team that is dedicated to investigating overdose cases and filing homicide cases on the dealers that are found to have provided the narcotics that led to the overdose,” Carter said.

A container of Narcan sits on a table following a demonstration at the Health and Human Services Humphrey Building on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in Washington. Health officials held an event on Friday to mark the availability of the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone without a prescription. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

One contributing factor to a decrease in drug overdoses overall has been the increased awareness and education about drug overdoses, as well as the prevalence of Narcan. The TCU Substance Use & Recovery Services office offers training on how to administer Narcan each fall and spring semester.

“Historically, there have been very few overdoses reported on the campus,” TCU Police Commander Steven Enright said. “The police department is very fortunate that our community can avail itself of the TCU Substance Use & Recovery Services. They are in a unique position to help individuals with services to cope with the stresses of university life.”

Some students recognize how safe the TCU campus feels, but aren’t completely confident in the safety of Fort Worth as a whole. Campbell Mannschreck, a sophomore early childhood education major, cited homelessness and shootings prevalent in the West 7th area.

TCU police and safety escorts are available to all students throughout the weekdays and weekends. (Stewart Anne Murdock)

“Yes, crime is down and the streets are safer, but it is never something we take for granted,” Enright said. “Being a large metropolitan city has inherent problems. We employ a strategy of high-profile patrol, which incorporates police cars, bike patrol, walking patrol and golf cart patrols.”

Strategies like these allow TCU students to feel more confident while walking around campus alone, but TCU Police still stresses the importance of being on the lookout for crime, especially with many students being from out of state.

“Always report something that doesn’t seem right to you,” Enright said. “I can tell you the police would rather go through an entire career of false alarms than to see one person harmed. We do our best to treat each student as if they were one of our own family.”