State Farmers Insurance and Sperling’s Best Places ranked America’s safest cities and towns, and Buffalo is right up at the top of the list.

Coming in sixth place among the most secure large metropolitan areas in the nation, the Buffalo-Niagara region is sitting pretty. Joining Buffalo toward the top is fellow Western New York city Rochester in second, and Central New York neighbor Syracuse in fourth place.

How did these three upstate cities end up in such enviable positions? According to the State Farmers website, researchers looked at “crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, terrorist threats, environmental hazards, life expectancy, mortality rates from cancer and motor vehicle accidents, and job loss numbers in 379 U.S. municipalities” to determine the placements of cities and towns.

Once the data was compiled, the regions were divided by population into three categories: large metro areas, mid-size cities and small towns. Buffalo fit into the large metro areas. Here’s the top 20 most secure cities from that category:

1.    Pittsburgh, Pa.
2.    Rochester, N.Y.
3.    El Paso, Texas                                      
4.    Syracuse, N.Y.
5.    Bethesda–Gaithersburg–Frederick, Md.
6.    Buffalo–Niagara Falls, N.Y.
7.    Wichita, Kan.
8.    Omaha, Neb.–Council Bluffs, Iowa
9.    Denver–Aurora, Colo.
10.    Austin–Round Rock, Texas
11.    Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk, Conn.
12.    Albany–Schenectady–Troy, N.Y.
13.    McAllen–Edinburg–Mission, Texas
14.    Nassau–Suffolk counties, N.Y.
15.    Honolulu, Hawaii
16.    Madison, Wis.
17.    Colorado Springs, Colo.
18.    Oklahoma City, Okla.
19.    Des Moines–West Des Moines, Iowa
20.    Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, Minn.

Photo courtesy of Flickr / Scott Kinmartin