The Safest SUVs for 2024 and 2025 | Edmunds
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The Safest SUVs for 2024 and 2025

These sport-utility vehicles offer both safety and comfort

  • written by
    Correspondent
    Brett T. Evans has been an auto writer for more than a decade with 2,000 articles under his belt, covering topics as varied as tuned diesel trucks, modern supercars and experimental electric vehicles. Brett contributes to Edmunds and has also written for Petrolicious, MotorTrend, Out Motorsports and Motor1, among others. When he's away from his desk, Brett enjoys off-roading in his 1996 Lexus LX 450 or cutting up a twisty road in his 2006 BMW Z4 3.0si — sometimes with a border collie named Lilly in tow.

Jump to: Safest x-small SUVs | Safest small SUVs | Safest midsize SUVs | Safest large SUVs

Safety for the driver, occupants and pedestrians are often top of mind for shoppers looking for an SUV or crossover. Luckily, buyers have plenty of choice nowadays, as collision prevention technology, active driving assistants, and a variety of airbags can be found in vehicles of all sizes.

These are some of the safest SUVs in each class, and they just happen to be some of the best vehicles we've tested as well. Some are cheap and cheerful, and some are expensive and spacious. But no matter what, they'll each help get you and your passengers around with peace of mind thanks to high safety ratings from the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). That said, it is important to note that there is no such thing as a vehicle that will keep you and your passengers fully safe in every scenario. Several factors in a car crash — ranging from speed to vehicle weights to the impact angle — can affect the damage caused to the vehicle and its passengers. But choosing a vehicle that has scored well in these tests should give you peace of mind that it has been rigorously tested to perform its best in an accident.

All prices below include the manufacturer's destination charge.

Safest x-small SUVs

2024 Mazda CX-30

The 2024 Mazda CX-30 is one of our favorite subcompact crossovers, thanks to its sharp styling, standard all-wheel drive and different engine options. It also ranks well in terms of safety, earning NHTSA's five-star overall safety score and achieving the coveted Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS. It scores the institute's highest award by getting good crashworthiness scores in all of the IIHS tests, as well as avoiding a collision with a pedestrian dummy in a variety of situations. It's a fantastic vehicle that also happens to be one of the safest SUVs out there.

  • Base price: $26,730
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick+
  • Edmunds rating: 7.9 (out of 10)

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2024 Chevrolet Trailblazer

The 2024 Chevrolet Trailblazer is a pleasant, value-oriented SUV that offers good passenger space and reasonable pricing, making it a great pick for singles, couples and small families. That's doubly true thanks to its five-star NHTSA safety rating and good crashworthiness scores in IIHS testing. It also comes with standard forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking that can prevent or significantly reduce the severity of collisions with cars and pedestrians.

  • Base price: $24,395
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: Good overall, but not yet tested with the latest criteria
  • Edmunds rating: 8.0 (out of 10)

2024 BMW X1

The 2024 BMW X1 has standard all-wheel drive, a spacious cabin, and two powertrain options. The base xDrive28i gets a class-competitive 241 horsepower from a 2.0-liter turbo-four, while the X1 M35 gets a tuned-up version of the same engine for a heady 312 ponies. Both get a tech-centered cabin, with a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.7-inch touchscreen display running the sophisticated iDrive 9 infotainment system. And lest we forget, the X1 is also a safe compact SUV, achieving an overall four-star rating from NHTSA and a Top Safety Pick award from the IIHS.

  • Base price: $41,495
  • NHTSA overall rating: four stars
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
  • Edmunds rating: 8.1 (out of 10)

Safest small SUVs

2024 Mazda CX-50

Like its smaller sibling, the 2024 Mazda CX-50 is both one of our favorite vehicles and one of the safest SUVs in its class. Its five-star NHTSA safety rating and IIHS Top Safety Pick+ status combine with rugged styling, an optional 250-horsepower turbocharged engine, and a nicely designed interior that make it feel like a more expensive vehicle. It costs a little more than some of its competitors, but in our opinion, the Mazda CX-50 is worth it.

  • Base price: $31,675
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick+
  • Edmunds rating: 8.1 (out of 10)

2024 Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V was one of the first small crossovers on the market, and the 2024 model still adheres to family values of a spacious interior, huge cargo room and an easy-to-drive persona. The 2024 CR-V is also very efficient thanks to a hybrid powertrain that comes standard on all models but the two lowest LX and EX trims. Furthermore, the CR-V earns a five-star NHTSA safety rating, as well as a Top Safety Pick award from the IIHS. Poor performance in the institute's updated moderate overlap front test (which takes rear passenger safety into account) keeps it from adding that coveted plus sign to the ranking, but it is still a solid choice for a compact SUV.

  • Base price: $30,850
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
  • Edmunds rating: 8.1 (out of 10)

2024 Genesis GV70

The 2024 Genesis GV70's value-oriented pricing, plus its avant-garde interior and exterior design. It also offers an impressive balance of power, ride quality, and handling that makes the GV70 an excellent option among small luxury SUVs. The GV70 is also a safe SUV; the 2023 model earned five stars in NHTSA testing, and the nearly identical 2024 model should follow suit. Meanwhile, the IIHS has rated the GV70 as a Top Safety Pick; it narrowly missed the top honors with a Marginal score in the updated moderate overlap test.

  • Base price: $46,500
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars (2023)
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
  • Edmunds rating: 8.3 (out of 10)

Safest midsize SUVs

2024 Kia Telluride

The 2024 Kia Telluride is one of the best family crossovers on sale today. It offers seating for up to eight, with a healthy 21 cubic feet of cargo room with all three rows in place. It also offers a well-damped, comfortable ride and lots of in-cabin technology. The Telluride performed well in its safety tests, with a four-star frontal crash rating, a five-star side crash rating, and a five-star overall rating from NHTSA. The IIHS gives the Telluride a Top Safety Pick+ rating, with the agency's highest possible scores in every category.

  • Base price: $37,585
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick+
  • Edmunds rating: 8.4 (out of 10)

2024 Subaru Outback

If having three rows of seats isn't a priority, the 2024 Subaru Outback is an excellent midsize SUV, earning a five-star overall safety rating from NHTSA and a Top Safety Pick award from the IIHS, held back from that all-important plus sign by a marginal score in the agency's updated moderate overlap test. The Outback's base engine is an adequate 182-horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder, while the optional turbocharged 2.4-liter engine makes a healthy 260 hp. Ground clearance is an impressive 8.7 inches for all trims except the Wilderness model, which offers an even more impressive 9.5 inches.

  • Base price: $30,240
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
  • Edmunds rating: 7.9 (out of 10)

2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class

The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE is as safe as it is luxurious. The IIHS rates the GLE as a Top Safety Pick+ if you order the optional Driver Assistance package, which enhances the standard automatic emergency braking with a cross-traffic sensing function. The government agency rated the 2023 GLE five stars overall, a score that the barely altered 2024 model should duplicate. Beyond its impressive safety scores, the GLE also offers a variety of four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines to help buyers balance performance and budget, and its high-tech cabin is crafted very well.

  • Base price: $63,800
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars (2023)
  • IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick+ (with optional equipment)
  • Edmunds rating: 8.4 (out of 10)

Safest large SUVs

2024 Ford Expedition

The 2024 Ford Expedition is the largest SUV offering from the Blue Oval. The base XL STX model offers spacious seating for five, though most families will opt for the XLT model and its standard third row. Go for the standard-length Expedition and you'll find 19.3 cubic feet of cargo room behind the third row, while the extended Expedition Max body style boasts 34.3 cubes. The full-size Expedition is also a safe SUV, with a five-star NHTSA safety rating (compared to the GMC Yukon's four-star scores).

  • Base price: $57,520 (XL STX five-seater), $61,585 (XLT eight-seater)
  • NHTSA overall rating: five stars
  • IIHS rating: not tested
  • Edmunds rating: 7.6 (out of 10)

2024 GMC Yukon

The GMC Yukon blends elegant styling and a variety of engine options into one neat package. It's also one of the only SUVs on the market to offer a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six diesel engine that provides a stump-pulling 460 lb-ft of torque and up to 23 mpg combined. The GMC Yukon has a four-star safety rating from NHTSA, earning four stars in the frontal test, five stars in the side-impact test, and three stars for rollover resistance.

  • Base price: $60,195
  • NHTSA overall rating: four stars
  • IIHS rating: not tested
  • Edmunds rating: 7.6 (out of 10)

Brett T. Evansby

Brett T. Evans has been an auto writer for more than a decade with 2,000 articles under his belt, covering topics as varied as tuned diesel trucks, modern supercars and experimental electric vehicles. Brett contributes to Edmunds and has also written for Petrolicious, MotorTrend, Out Motorsports and Motor1, among others. When he's away from his desk, Brett enjoys off-roading in his 1996 Lexus LX 450 or cutting up a twisty road in his 2006 BMW Z4 3.0si — sometimes with a border collie named Lilly in tow.

 

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