Judging by the headlines, locals might think they need to carry a machete every time they go out for breakfast tacos, but a new report says the San Antonio area is home to one of the safest cities in Texas. Home security review site SafeWise has ranked the small community of Fair Oaks Ranch No. 5 on its recent list of towns unburdened by crime worries.

For its 2026 report, SafeWise factored in FBI-reported property and violent crime data for 343 cities, then adjusted it for population in order to fairly compare metros to rural and suburban towns. Although the rankings do provide a snapshot, the site says “a number of factors, including local agency reporting practices, community resources, prevention efforts, and lived experience all influence how safe a place is (or is perceived to be).”

Still, the high score gives Fair Oaks Ranch — located about 27 miles from San Antonio on the corners of Bexar, Comal, and Kendall Counties— plenty to crow about.

“Safety is foundational to our quality of life,” says City Manager Scott Huizenga, in a release. “This ranking affirms that our strategic investment in public safety and community partnerships is producing real results.”

The city cited its police department’s “We Go First” strategy, which combines an average two-minute emergency response with a focus on community relationships. According to the report, Fair Oaks Ranch has had a decrease in both violent and property crimes for two years in a row.

The rankings were released with SafeWise’s State of Safety survey, which found that perception didn’t always gel with reality. Although the statewide property crime rate of 23.4 incidents per 1,000 people is slightly higher than the national rate, Texas’ violent crime rate of 4.44 incidents per 1,000 people is consistent with the national average.

Still, Texans feel less safe than the average American. Only 49 percent of the survey’s respondents say they feel safe in the state compared to the national norm of 52 percent. 55 percent said they worry about their safety on a daily basis, a year-over-year increase from 52 percent. The data contrasts with first-hand reporting. For the second year in a row, Lone Star State participants said they have had few personal experiences with property crime and package theft.

Fair Oaks Ranch was the only San Antonio area city to make it to the list, which favored towns of 30,000 residents or fewer. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan statistical area had the most ranked cities. The full top 10 includes:

• No. 1 — Trophy Club (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
• No. 2 — Parker (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
• No. 3 — Memorial Villages (Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land)
• No. 4 — Melissa (Dallas-Fort Worth)
• No. 5 — Fair Oaks Ranch (San Antonio-New Braunfels)
• No. 6 — Whitehouse (Tyler)
• No. 7 — Murphy (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
• No. 8 — Fulshear (Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land)
• No. 9 — Colleyville (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
• No. 10 — Lumberton (Beaumont-Port Arthur)