LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Moraga earns No. 8 ranking of 50 Safest College Towns in America


Saint Mary's College entrance Photo Vera Kochan

Moraga ranked No. 8 in the 2020 list of the 50 Safest College Towns in America, according to Safewise, an independent review site. Home to Saint Mary's College, Moraga was the only California college town to appear in the top 10. California ranked third as the state with the most safe college towns behind Massachusetts with eight, and Illinois with seven.

Safewise based its rankings purely on which college towns reported the fewest violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents by using FBI crime statistics reported in 2018. Each city's score was based 50% on the number of violent crimes and 50% on the number of property crimes.

To qualify, cities needed to have a population greater than 15,000 residents and be home to an accredited college offering four-year degrees.

"The average violent crime rate among the safest college towns remained steady at 0.9 incidents per 1,000 people in 2019 and 2020," states Safewise. "About half of the safest college cities reported less than one violent crime incident per 1,000 residents. The average property crime rate among the safest college towns dropped seven percentage points year over year - 8.6 incidents per 1,000 people in 2020 vs. 15.6 in 2019." Safewise lists Moraga's violent crime rate as 0.7 and a property crime rate of 5.3.