What is the safest area to live in Dallas TX?

To rate safety from crime, The Dallas Morning News examined per capita rates of burglary and aggravated assault within1,186 census tracts in Dallas, Collin, Denton, Rockwall and parts of Tarrant counties. These 10 neighborhoods contained the tracts where the combined scores were best. Burglary and assault rates were used because they are more consistent over time and more likely than other serious crimes to reflect random crime against residents.

1. Frisco (north of El Dorado)best_in_dfw

New subdivisions like Panther Creek Estates benefit from Frisco's overall low crime rate.

2. Double Oak

The six-person police department keeps things quiet in this Denton County town of 2,900 due west of Flower Mound.

3. West McKinney

If you drive west on US Highway 380, you might almost miss this area to your left, just past Custer Road, that's home to the Aero Country fly-in communities.

4. Frisco (east of Preston)

Between College Parkway and State Highway121 sit several thousand residences built in the '90s and 2000s. And it's not just houses; the area also includes the Tuscany Square townhomes.

5. North Dallas

Snuggled between Preston Hollow and Central Expressway along Walnut Hill Lane sits an area, near NorthPark Center, Temple Emanu-El and Hillcrest High School, that criminals steer clear of.

6. Eastern Colleyville

The half of Colleyville east of State Highway 26 has a lot to recommend it besides safety, but the area of $300,000 and $400,000 homes near picturesque Pecan Park and highly regarded OC Taylor Elementary boasts some of the safest streets in North Texas.

7. Bent Tree, Oakdale and Country Brook

This group of Far North Dallas neighborhoods snuggles between Addison and the Bush Turnpike. Inside it, the Bent Trail, Briar Ridge and Moss Creek area due west of Pres-ton Road is even safer than the rest.

8. Frisco (west of Stonebriar Mall)

Just west of the excellent shopping at one of Collin County's premier malls sit Stonebriar Country Club and communities such as Stonebriar Village. Maybe it's because of that gated community and its full-time security force, but homeowners here have little to fear from crime.

9. Timber Creek

When you get off I-35E in Lewisville, head west on Bellaire Boulevard for about a mile. To your left will be a group of subdivisions that includes Timber Creek Acres and Oak Creek Estates. Beyond safety, it's practically within shouting distance of Lewisville's Central Park.

10. North Richland Hills

This northeast Tarrant County bedroom community hired its first town marshal and night watchman when it incorporated in 1953. The town and police force have grown a lot since then, and there's even a website where residents can email the cop on their neighborhood beat.

SOURCES: North Central Texas Council of Governments; Texas Department of Public Safety; police departments

Editor's note: The methodology for this list varies slightly from the interactive tool on our Web site. We encourage you to explore both.

A new study from personal finance website SmartAsset ranks Frisco as the safest city in the U.S. (up from No. 2 in last year’s study), with McKinney holding the No. 2 spot (up from No. 3 last year) and Plano sitting at No. 9 (down from No. 5 last year).

To come up with its list, SmartAsset examined data from 200 of the country’s largest cities across five metrics: violent crime, property crime, vehicular death rate, drug-poisoning death rate, and percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking.

SmartAsset notes that in the study, Frisco has the fifth lowest rate for violent crime (86 crimes reported per 100,000 residents), sixth lowest rate for property crime rate (972 crimes per 100,000 residents), and sixth lowest drug-poisoning death rate (7.3 deaths per 100,000 residents).

An informal poll on Niche.com indicates 98 percent of Frisco’s residents feel “very safe” or “pretty safe.”

“Both violent and property crime [are] considerably low here. The cost of living is just a little higher than the national average, but it’s worth it, considering Frisco is one of the safest places to live,” according to security company ADT.

Nearby McKinney boasts the fourth lowest property crime rate (936 crimes per 100,000 residents), sixth lowest rate for drug-poisoning deaths (7.3 deaths per 100,000 residents) and 18th lowest rate for violent crime (134 crimes per 100,000 residents).

Similar figures weren’t provided for Plano.

Other places in Texas on the list of the safest cities in the country are:

• McAllen, No. 6
• Laredo, No. 13
• Round Rock, No. 14
• College Station, No. 15
• Brownsville, No. 16 (tie)

Frisco (No. 4) and Plano (No. 5) also are ranked among SmartAsset’s five most affordable safe cities. Housing costs are less than 20 percent of the median annual household income in Frisco, according to the study, and are 20.2 percent of the median household income in Plano.

It's officially December, so naturally this weekend is dominated by holiday-themed events, including five local theater productions, two concerts, another Nutcracker, and celebrations in Dallas Arts District. There will also be two non-holiday theater productions, a concert by a YouTube sensation, a visit from a famous actress/comedian, and a stand-up comedy event.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

What is the safest part of Dallas to live in?

What is the best area in Dallas to live?

Is Frisco safer than Plano?

What is the safest zip code in Dallas Texas?