LEHI, Utah — A Utah County community was recently named "America’s Safest Suburb" by a group called SmartAsset.
Lehi took the top spot for 2025 in a study that ranks more than 350 towns across the country that are within 45 minutes of a major city.
We went down to Lehi's historic Main Street to hear some local perspectives on achieving the title.
“I grew up running up and down this street,” said Dax Williamson. “It’s got a lot of charm to it, it really does.”
Lehi’s always been the right fit for Williamson.
His Lucky Sole Shoe Repair shop has been preserving city history and well-worn boots on Main Street for 30 years.
“This [countertop] and this table and those seat tops all came from an elm tree that just got cut down, down the road,” Williamson said.
He’s seen plenty of change, particularly with a booming population.
“You can’t walk across the street here,” said Williamson. “It’s gotten really busy.”
For Sgt. Levi Lewis and Lehi Police, they’ve earned that top spot even as they police an ever-growing community.
“When I first started, we were at 32,000 people,” said Lewis, who joined the force about 15 years ago. “We’re probably at least triple that right now.”
Yet through all that growth, crime stays low.
“We've had one theft here at our business in 30 years,” Williamson said. “Even with all these houses and developments coming up, people keep an eye on their neighborhoods. It’s just the community taking care of each other — I think that’s a big part of it.”
Williamson tells me there have been several occasions when he comes into work only to be greeted by a pair of shoes at his front door because people feel comfortable enough to leave them out.
“It is a community-involved and law enforcement-involved effort. It’s collaborative,” Sgt. Lewis said.
SmartAsset highlighted the lows Lehi sees when it comes to violent crime and property crime rates, drug overdoses and several other factors, so it’s an achievement they’ll proudly tout.
“It’s just a matter of trying to hire the right people, and we’re getting a lot of really good officers that are proactive. That’s where it all starts,” Lewis said.
But there’s always room for improvement. Williamson hopes they can ease growing pains like the traffic on Main Street and make it more of a communal space.
“Society’s kind of lost that since COVID,” said Williamson. “That need to kind of get together. We’re really trying to get this to be more of a hub where the community can gather.”
Sgt. Lewis says they’re always striving to make their community better, and they hope this year can be a three-peat in the making.
Lehi beat out multiple suburbs near our nation’s capital (Bethesda, Maryland and Great Falls, Virginia) for the top spot. Layton also landed in the top 10, ranking seventh in the country on that same list.
