Upper Valley Cities Ranked as 'Safest' in the Nation

Author: Ryan Wolf - Valley Central News

From shoppers to students to stylists, everyone seems to have an opinion on the new safest city ranking that places McAllen, Edinburg--Mission smack on the map.

"I do agree, it's a nice place to live," Arnold Barajas said.  "[I feel] Safe and sound."

"It makes me feel good... coming from Dallas," James Miller said. "There's a lot of crime out there... So it makes me feel good knowing I'm safe out here."

The Farmers Insurance Group study ranked the tri-city area as 14th on the list of "most secure places to live" and used a number of factors to come up with that ranking which included: crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, foreclosures, terrorist threats and job loss numbers.

The study divided communities into three groups based on size and listed McAllen, Edinburg--Mission as a large metropolitan area with 500,000 or more residents.

Arnold Barajas calls Edinburg home.

The master barber at Chuy and Chachi's off University Drive isn't surprised to hear the area is a cut above the rest.

"I've been working here for 10 years and never had a problem," Barajas said. "Everything has been normal, cool."

James Miller moved back to the Valley from Dallas.

The Nikki Rowe High School alumni said he had no worries taking his family to anywhere on the region listed.

"Home, movies, park... Anywhere... I feel safe down here anyway."

This is the seventh annual "most secure U.S. places to live" rankings from Farmers Insurance Group.

While listed among the top 20, McAllen, Edinburg—Mission fell 7 spots from last year.

Here are the Farmers Insurance Group's Most Secure U.S. Places to live for 2010:

Large Metro Areas (500,000 or more residents)Madison, Wis.
Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa
Syracuse, N.Y.
Austin-Round Rock, Texas
Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine
Rochester, N.Y.
Honolulu, Hawaii
El Paso, Texas
Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.
Nassau-Suffolk Counties, N.Y.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.
Raleigh-Cary, N.C.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
Wichita, Kan.
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
New Haven-Milford, Conn.

Mid-Size Cities (150,000 - 500,000 residents)Olympia, Wash.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Bellingham, Wash.
Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash.
Fargo, N.D.-Moorhead, Minn.
Rochester, Minn.
Duluth, Minn.-Superior, Wis.
Binghamton, N.Y.
Lynchburg, Va.
Burlington, Vt.
St. Cloud, Minn.
Green Bay, Wis.
Yakima, Wash.
Appleton, Wis.
Spokane, Wash.
Bremerton-Silverdale, Wash.
Boulder, Colo.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.
Las Cruces, N.M.

Small Towns (Fewer than 150,000 residents)Lewiston, Idaho-Clarkston, Wash.
State College, Pa.
Ithaca, N.Y.
Bismarck, N.D.
Logan, Utah
Wenatchee, Wash.
Morgantown, W.Va.
Billings, Mont.
Corvallis, Ore.
Midland, Texas
Sioux City, Iowa
La Crosse, Wis.-Winona, Minn.
Elmira, N.Y.
Rapid City, S.D.
Oshkosh-Neenah, Wis.
Eau Claire, Wis.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Wash.
Fond du Lac, Wis.
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Va.
Grand Forks, N.D.-Crookston, Minn.

Learn more about Rio South Texas...click here