Americans rate Seattle one of safest cities in Gallup poll

Americans think Seattle is one of the country's safer big cities, according to a new Gallup poll.

What's happening: In the poll, which surveyed about 500 people about their perceptions of the city, 63% said they considered Seattle to be a safe place to live and visit.

• Of the 16 cities included in the survey, only Dallas and Boston scored higher, with 74% and 72% percent of respondents rating them as safe, respectively.
• The poll respondents included people who may have never visited the cities they were asked about.

Why it matters: While some media outlets have painted Seattle as a haven of lawlessness in recent years — particularly during and after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests — the poll results suggest that most Americans have a more positive view of the city.

Yes, but: The percentage of poll respondents who said they think Seattle is safe declined 17 percentage points from 2006, when Gallup conducted a similar survey.

• Republicans were also less likely than Democrats to rate Seattle positively.
• 85% of Democrats and left-leaning independent voters said they consider Seattle a safe place, while only 42% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents did.

Zoom in: Although Seattle's homicide rate trails many other big cities', city officials in recent years have expressed concern about an increase in fatal shootings and other crime.

• Seattle had more than twice as many homicides last year — 52 — as it did in 2016, when police reported only 20 for the year.

Of note: The Gallup survey, which has a 5% margin of error, was based on telephone interviews conducted from July 3-27.