Covington ranks among Louisiana's safest cities

SafeWise placed Covington third in its “Louisiana’s Safest Cities of 2026” report published January 29, putting the St. Tammany Parish city in the state’s top 10 alongside Harahan, Addis and Mandeville. The ranking was based on the most recent FBI crime data available to SafeWise, which the company said covered calendar year 2024. Covington’s placement has drawn attention because it comes against a statewide backdrop of high crime rates and low resident confidence in safety, according to the same report. The SafeWise report said Louisiana’s violent-crime rate was 9.12 incidents per 1,000 people and its property-crime rate was 36.33 per 1,000, both above national averages of 4.43 and 22.89, respectively. Only 34% of Louisiana residents said they feel safe in the state, SafeWise said, citing its State of Safety survey, even as it reported that first-hand crime experiences were decreasing. ### Where did Covington land in the 2026 ranking? (safewise.com) SafeWise listed Harahan first, Addis second and Covington third in Louisiana for 2026. Mandeville ranked fourth, followed by DeRidder, Broussard, Baker, Slidell, Zachary and Carencro, according to the report. USA Today’s Louisiana ranking roundup, published April 27, also reported that Covington moved up from fifth place in the 2025 SafeWise list to third place in 2026. (safewise.com) That report said Covington posted a violent-crime rate of 1.8 per 1,000 residents and a property-crime rate of 10.2 per 1,000 residents in the 2026 SafeWise analysis. ### What numbers put Covington in the top tier? Covington’s 1.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 10.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents were far below Louisiana’s statewide rates in the SafeWise report. The statewide comparison matters because SafeWise’s rankings are built on per-capita violent and property crime data, not on resident opinion surveys. (fantasy.usatoday.com) SafeWise said its annual safest-cities rankings use the latest FBI crime data available and assign weighted safety scores to compare cities. The company also noted that cities can be excluded if they fall below a population threshold or fail to submit a complete crime report to the FBI. ### Why does this stand out in Louisiana? Louisiana’s statewide figures were among the highest in the country in the SafeWise report. (fantasy.usatoday.com) The company said only Maryland reported a higher violent-crime rate and only New Mexico reported a higher property-crime rate in its 2026 state-by-state comparisons. Those statewide numbers help explain why a city such as Covington can rank highly while broader perceptions remain negative. (safewise.com) SafeWise said daily concern about overall safety in Louisiana rose to 63% from 56% a year earlier, even though property-crime experiences reported by residents had declined. ### How does that compare with resident-driven rankings? Niche’s Covington profile describes the city as a suburb of New Orleans with a population of 11,658 and says it is one of the better places to live in Louisiana. (safewise.com) Niche’s crime-and-safety page for Covington shows local violent- and property-crime statistics drawn from public data and resident reviews, offering a different lens from SafeWise’s statewide ranking model. A separate comparison article distributed online said the overlap between SafeWise crime-data rankings and Niche safety grades highlights a small group of Louisiana communities that score well on both reported crime and resident feedback. That comparison identified Covington as one of the cities that appeared near the top across both measures. (niche.com) ### What can readers check next? SafeWise’s January 29 Louisiana report includes the full top-10 list, statewide crime comparisons and its methodology notes. Niche’s Covington crime-and-safety page provides the city-level statistics and resident feedback used in its own grading system, giving readers two public sources to compare as newer FBI data becomes available. (safewise.com) (newsbreak.com)