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A recent ConsumerAffairs report has ranked Virginia as the ninth safest place to live.

Each state was ranked based on violent crime, property crime, number of law enforcement officers and law enforcement spending using FBI and Census Bureau data.

In addition, the top 10 safest states were also broken down by safest small towns, midsize towns and large cities.

In the commonwealth, the safest small town was Cape Charles, the safest midsize town was Purcellville, and the safest large city was Virginia Beach.

Lunenburg County, according to Crime Grade, receives a B+ grade when it comes to overall crime.

The B+ grade means the rate of crime is slightly lower than the average U.S. county.

Lunenburg County is in the 74th percentile for safety, meaning 26% of counties are safer and 74% of counties are more dangerous.

When it comes to violent crime, Crime Grade gives the county a C+ grade.

The C+ grade means the rate of violent crime is about the same as the average U.S. county. Lunenburg County is in the 53rd percentile for safety, meaning 47% of counties are safer and 53% of counties are more dangerous.

According to a 2020 Gallup poll, 78% of Americans perceive crime to be on the rise nationally, while only 38% perceive crime to be up in their local area.

According to the Pew Research Center, the wide gap exists when, in reality, violent and property crime rates have actually dropped dramatically since the 1990s.

In addition to Virginia, the top 10 safest places to live in the U.S. are:

New Jersey

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Maine

Vermont

Connecticut

Ohio

New York

Massachusetts

The ConsumerAffairs Research Team used 2020 data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer and 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances to determine the safest states and cities in the country.