By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Shelby County was represented well on a list recently compiled by a national ranking website of the safest suburbs in Alabama.

The Niche.com website recently released its 2017 list of the safest suburbs in Alabama, and six of the county’s municipalities made the cut while earning praise for their low crime rates and strong police departments.

While compiling the list, the website studied the crime rates for murder, assault, robbery, burglary, vehicle theft, larceny rate and a composite crime and safety score based on Niche.com survey responses. The website assessed 2,886 suburbs in the United States.

Columbiana was the highest-ranked among Shelby County cities on the list, coming in at No. 3 behind only Argo and Lake View. Columbiana bested the national average in number of assaults, murders, robberies, thefts and motor vehicle thefts, earning an overall crime and safety grade of B.

Following shortly behind Columbiana was Helena, which came in at No. 5. Helena bested the national average in number of assaults, murders, sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts, also earning an overall crime and safety grade of B.

Pelham came in at No. 9 on the list, also earning an overall crime and safety grade of B. Pelham was significantly better than the national average in its number of assaults, murders, sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts.

Alabaster came in one place behind Pelham, coming in at No. 10 on the list. Alabaster earned an overall crime and safety grade of B-minus, and bested the national average in number of murders, sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts.

Hoover, which is in both Shelby and Jefferson counties, came in at No. 12 on the list, earning an overall crime and safety grade of B-minus. The city was better than the national average in its number of assaults, murders, sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.

Montevallo rounded out Shelby County’s showing in the top 25, also earning an overall crime and safety grade of B-minus. Montevallo bested the national average in number of murders, sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts.

To view the entire list, visit Niche.com/places-to-live/rankings/suburbs/safest/s/alabama.