Boston is nation's second safest city, according to new Gallup poll
BOSTON – They may hate our sports teams and our traffic, but a new Gallup survey says Americans rate Boston as the nation's second safest large city, behind Dallas.
The poll asked people, "Now thinking about some large cities, both those you have visited and those you have never visited, from what you know and have read, do you consider each of the following cities to be safe to live in or visit, or not?"
Boston ranked number two. It was the only city that both Democrats and Republicans felt was the safest.
"That is a credit to the Boston Police Department, all of our community providers, to the Boston Public Health Commission," said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. "We understand here that safety is a community effort, and it's quite rewarding to see that the reality of what we represent as a large city with a lot of moving pieces and with a very big focus on community and watching out for each other, and making improvements wherever we can, that that is resonating with the national conversation."
While the Gallup survey was based only on the perspective of polled citizens nationwide, the data shows Boston is a relatively safe city. It ranked as the tenth safest city in a MoneyGeek analysis of FBI crime data. When looking at violent crime, Boston is actually safer than Dallas. So people's perception doesn't necessarily match the data.
While many tourists WBZ spoke with agree that Boston feels incredibly safe, leave it to Massachusetts natives to look at the Gallup poll with a critical eye.
"Um," said Jessi Gratz of Stow, who was in the city with her kids to soak up a final summer weather day. "You know I would say here at certain times of the day, sure… As you know as a whole? I don't know… I mean I don't live in Boston with my kids."
