The Safest Fishing Destinations in America

Key takeaways

• Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, is the safest fishing destination of the cities analyzed, with a combined crime rate of 1.58 per 1,000 residents.
• Ocean City, Maryland, is the least safe fishing destination of the cities analyzed, recording the highest combined crime rate at 96.28 per 1,000 residents.
• Ennis, Montana, is the safest destination for violent crime, recording zero violent offenses in 2024, while Taos, New Mexico, has the highest violent crime rate at 9.37 per 1,000 residents.
• Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, is the safest destination for property crime at 1.44 per 1,000 residents, while Ocean City, Maryland, records the highest property crime rate at 87.78 per 1,000.

Fishing destinations across the country vary widely in safety, and the gap between the safest and riskiest towns is bigger than many anglers might expect. Vivint analyzed 2024 FBI crime data for major fishing destinations across the U.S. to find out which ones posted the lowest crime rates and which carried the most risk.

The findings cover overall crime rates as well as a breakdown between violent and property crime, showing where each destination's risk actually comes from.

Lake Cumberland ranks safest overall, Ocean City the riskiest

Crime rates varied widely across the fishing destinations Vivint analyzed, with some towns proving far safer than others.

Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, topped the list as the safest fishing destination Vivint analyzed, with a combined crime rate of 1.58 per 1,000 residents. Ocean City, Maryland, landed at the opposite end, recording the highest combined rate at 96.28 per 1,000, nearly 61 times Lake Cumberland's rate.

Some fishing styles fared better than others in the rankings:

• Fly fishing. Pinedale, Wyoming, and Ennis, Montana, ranked as the safest fly-fishing towns.
• Freshwater. Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, and Door County, Wisconsin, led the freshwater destinations.
• Saltwater. The coastal picture was tougher, with Port Aransas, Texas, and Ocean City, Maryland, among the least safe destinations overall.

Property crime, not violence, drives the risk at most destinations

Breaking the data down by crime type shows where the real risk comes from.

Ennis, Montana, didn't record a single violent offense in 2024, making it the safest destination for violent crime among those analyzed. Taos, New Mexico, sat at the other extreme, posting the highest violent crime rate at 9.37 per 1,000 residents, with Ocean City, Maryland, and South Lake Tahoe, California, also ranking among the least safe for violent crime.

Property crime drove most of the risk across the destinations analyzed, accounting for 84% of all crime recorded. The typical destination saw a property crime rate of 14.0 per 1,000 residents, compared with just 2.8 per 1,000 for violent crime. That gap showed up most clearly at the extremes: Lake Cumberland posted the lowest property crime rate at 1.44 per 1,000, while Ocean City's property crime rate of 87.78 per 1,000 was the highest of any destination analyzed.

What the data means for anglers eyeing a new fishing spot

The gap between the safest and riskiest fishing destinations analyzed was wide, and it often had little to do with the fishing itself. Property crime accounted for most of that risk at nearly every destination, a distinction worth remembering when comparing towns as a home base rather than just a day trip. Anglers researching a new spot, whether for a weekend trip or a long-term move, can weigh crime data alongside water conditions and access when deciding where to go.

Methodology

Vivint analyzed 2024 FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data for common fishing destinations across the U.S. Combined, violent, and property crime rates were calculated from 2024 UCR offense and population data for each destination included in the analysis. We summed the year's violent and property offense counts and divided them by the jurisdiction's resident population to calculate crime rates per 1,000 residents. Crime data were at the level of the local law enforcement agency.

To build the overall safety score, we normalized the violent and property rates each to a 0-to-100 scale and averaged them with equal weight, so that both types of crime count equally regardless of how common each is. A higher safety score reflects lower crime. Destinations whose agencies did not report a full 12 months of 2024 data were excluded. Rankings reflect only the destinations included in this analysis and may not represent every fishing destination nationwide.

Crime rates are calculated using resident population, so destinations that draw large seasonal crowds, such as Ocean City, Maryland and Port Aransas, Texas, and others may show elevated rates because visitors are not reflected in the population count. Very small destinations are also more volatile, since a single incident can move the rate significantly. Finally, FBI reporting completeness varies by agency, and only destinations with full-year 2024 data were included.

Fair use statement

This data and its associated visual assets may be used for noncommercial purposes, provided proper attribution is given to Vivint along with a link to this page.