Downtown Tyler on Monday, December 7, 2020.

Tyler has been ranked number 17 in top 20 “Safest Cities in Texas for 2021” by safety.com.

Safety.com, resource for all things safety, reviewed comprehensive data from cities and townships statewide, ranking Tyler in the top 20 for its combined ranking of public safety scores including the most recent crime statistics and financial security metrics.

The company gave a statement on how they ranked each city.

“We narrowed down the safest cities in each state based on two primary categories: crime rates and financial safety. First, we evaluated each city’s crime rate using several public safety factors including the number of violent, property and hate crimes in each area to help determine the safest areas to live,” the statement read. “We then evaluated the city’s financial safety using socioeconomic factors like household income, average rent, and health insurance.”

The safety factors counted different kinds of crime for each city, including property crime, violent crime, societal crime, hate crime, officer-related incidents and mass shootings.

They also look at financial safety factors in each city to determine a rank, including unemployment rate, cost of living, poverty rate, uninsured residents and access to internet in their household.

Wylie was ranked number one in Texas and is number 84 out of 100 in public safety and 61 in financial safety out of 100.

Tyler is number 17 in Texas and number 22 in public safety, and six in financial safety ranking.

Tyler Mayor Don Warren said police and fire departments working with the community is a big part of why Tyler is ranked so highly.

“We did a survey in 2018 and the citizens that filled out the survey ranked public safety with a score of 87. I think part of the reason why we’re ranked so highly as far as safety is because of the interactions our police have with the citizens,” Warren said.

He said it goes even deeper, because they have functions for police, such as church and community events.

“It’s a collaboration between citizens and our public safety that make us one of the safer places. The neighborhood watches, our neighbors watch out for neighbors and people are just helping people out, watching for their neighbors’ property,” Warren said.

He said the people that live here and the police make Tyler a safe city.

“It makes me very proud. I’m extremely proud. I think it’s a great accomplishment and it’s something that everybody that lives here should be proud of. It’s one of those things that when people think about moving to Tyler or visiting Tyler, they think, ‘Where else better to go than the place that’s ranked in the top 20 in the safest places to be,” Warren said.

Overall, safety.com reported that Texas is number 14 out of 50 states in natural disaster safety and number 34 out of 50 in health safety.

Safety.com’s Safest Cities in Texas has been updated with 2019 data.