If you live, work or play in Athens and Limestone County and don’t feel threatened by crime, there may be a reason for that. Two different online survey companies recently named Athens as one of the safest cities in Alabama, while Limestone County was ranked by Niche.com as being the safest in the state.

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said he was pleased by the results of the surveys, but added it’s important for the city to be proactive and not take an issue like public safety for granted. He wants to see community groups continue working together to foster a spirit of diversity and open communication.

“It’s real important to be recognized as one of the safest cities, but we’ve got to maintain that,” he said.

By the numbers

In regard to the safety of Athens, Niche.com and financial website CreditDonkey didn’t rank the city the same, nor did the sites use the same methodology. CreditDonkey ranked Athens No. 35 on its list and based its ranking on 2014 data.

“Athens is one of Alabama’s oldest towns, and its local history is kept very much alive by the 24,000 people who live here,” said information from CreditDonkey. “Athens impressed us with its violent crime rate, which numbered six incidents in 2014: two rapes and four robberies.”

Madison was ranked No. 22 on the list, while the town of Margaret in St. Clair County was ranked first as being the safest city in Alabama.

Information for the CreditDonkey study was based on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report for 2014. That report defines violent crime as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crimes are defined as burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson.

The survey’s authors then factored in the number of violent and property crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, as well as the number of robberies and burglaries per 1,000 inhabitants. Robbery and burglary were highlighted because “they tend to occur more often and are more at the top of one’s mind for safety-conscious residents,” the survey said.

Athens officials may prefer the results of a survey by Niche.com, which lists the city as being the third safest in the state. The methodology behind the Niche survey is considerably different, however. Despite having a population of only 24,000, Niche’s crime rates are based on a population of 100,000. The six crimes taken into consideration were assault (four), robbery (24), murder (0), burglary (372), vehicle theft (31) and larceny (2,682).

Unlike CreditDonkey, Niche broke each type of crime down into a percentage. For example, the FBI data on assault carried a weight of 25 percent, as did robbery. Murder carried 15 percent of the weight, while burglary and vehicle theft represented 12.5 percent each. Larceny represented 10 percent of the total.

Limestone’s first-place ranking by Niche was calculated the same way, though the county’s population of roughly 90,000 residents is much closer to the 100,000 number used by the survey’s authors. The survey, again based on FBI data, shows Limestone as having 12 assaults, 22 robberies, 365 burglaries, 33 vehicle thefts, 2,621 larcenies and no murders.

“Limestone County is a special place,” said Limestone County Commission Chairman Mark Yarbrough. “These top rankings are a testament to our community’s focus on making our county the place to call home.”

Other accolades

In addition to overall safety, Niche examined the “best counties” to live in, with Limestone ranking No. 11. Madison was ranked first on the list, with Lauderdale coming in at No. 6.

Limestone County was awarded a grade of “B+” in the areas of cost of living, education, public schools, real estate, diversity and jobs. It was given a grade of “B-” on health and fitness, nightlife and family amenities. Niche gave Limestone a “C+” for outdoor activities and a “C” for shortest commute. On crime and safety, however, the county received a grade of “A-”.

Limestone County was also voted the third-best county in Alabama to raise a family and third-best county to purchase a home. Niche ranked Athens 14th in the state as the best place to raise a family, eighth as the best place to retire and 18th as the best place to buy a house.

For more on the rankings, visit http://www.creditdonkey.com/safest-alabama.html or https://local.niche.com.