MISSOURI (NEXSTAR) – Four cities in Missouri have just been ranked among the “safest” in the U.S., according to a new study.

The study, which attempted to determine the 100 “safest” municipalities in America, ranked the four Missouri towns and cities as follows on the list:

  • Clarkton (40)
  • Van Buren (70)
  • Oregon (78)
  • Cleveland (99)

The study came from CCTV Camera World, a U.S. security and investigations company. Using FBI data from 2020, the study ranked the top 100 “safest cities” in the U.S. by the total crime rate, which was expressed by the number of crimes per 100,000 residents. To find the crime rate, analysts totaled all reported violent and property crimes — the former including murder, rape, assault, etc., and the latter consisting of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

When it comes to Missouri’s safest towns, there was barely any recorded crime to speak of in 2020.

Clarkton, which was ranked the 40th safest city in the country, had a total crime rate of just 87.87 crimes per 100,000 residents, according to FBI data cited in the study. Meanwhile, Clarkton had only about 1,009 residents as of the 2020 Census — meaning there was barely any crime in the town that year.

Comparatively, Van Buren has a population of 747 residents, and with 125.79 crimes per 100,000 residents, that’s means there was roughly only one crime in the city in 2020.

The town of Oregon, on the other hand, boasts a population size of 8,635 and 132.28 crimes per 100,000 residents, for a total of around 11 crimes in 2020.

Lastly, Cleveland’s crime rate was said to be 151.29 per 100,000 residents. With just 784 people living in the Missouri city according to the 2020 Census, that means roughly one crime took place in the city that year.

The study didn’t stick to only Missouri’s municipalities. Across the country, 7,000 cities were evaluated based on their overall crime rates.

The top five safest cities in the U.S. are listed below:

  • Wayland, Massachusetts
  • Northport, New York
  • Milton, Wisconsin
  • Homer, New York
  • Coxsackle, New York

According to the study’s findings, New York had highest number of “safest” cities on the list, with 16 cities ranked among the top 100. Wisconsin followed with nine cities ranking in the top 100. The overall murder rate in the U.S., however, grew by a record 30% in 2020, the study’s authors noted. That data may concern Americans, even after Pew Research cited FBI and BJS data showing crime has been falling for the last three decades.