El Paso, Texas is ranked by an independent-research organization as the safest city in the United States. San Diego came in at number five.
The Southwest ranked well overall in the survey which looks at crime rates around the country.
Despite being directly next door to Mexico's deadliest city, Ciudad Juarez, El Paso is ranked number one among cities with populations higher than half a million.
The ratings are published each year by CQ Press which, among other things, uses FBI data to compile its list.
Last year there were 13 homicides in El Paso compared with more than 2,600 in Juarez, where drug violence is rampant. So far this year there have been 4 homicides in El Paso.
Ratings are determined by analyzing violent-crime data, including the incidence of murder, rape, robbery and assaults. Honolulu and New York City ranked second and third safest.
Detroit, Mich., where unemployment and poverty are rampant, is ranked as the city with the highest crime rate.
