The Safest Compact and Subcompact SUVs for 2026

The Subaru Forester is the safest small SUV you can buy today. With its standard bundle of advanced driver aids, all-wheel drive, and a low starting price of around $30,000, the Forester is today’s best small SUV safety bargain. But its record of acing every component of the rigorous tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) truly elevates the Forester over its rivals. And that’s good if safety is your top priority because, as you’ll see below, the Forester can be pretty dull. It’s slow, unpolished and not very lively (the non-hybrid model, anyway). Then again, it also excels off-road, with trail capabilities that outclass its competitors. 

Along with the Forester, we’ve gathered the rest of today’s safest small SUVs, ranging from mainstream to luxury models. All meet the strictest standards of both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — the U.S. government’s leading road safety agency — and the nonprofit Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). Each SUV on this list earns both a five-star NHTSA rating and an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award. 

The latter is significant since it represents the IIHS’ latest testing protocol, which factors in second-row passenger safety. To earn the IIHS’ highest grade, the SUV has to score “Good” in the institute’s updated frontal collision tests, which evaluates how well seat belts prevent rear passengers from sliding under them (called “submarining”) and also how effectively they prevent rear passengers from hitting the front seats in a collision. These more stringent IIHS standards are why you won’t see several popular models from Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet on the list. While most are still IIHS Top Safety Picks and still among the safest SUVs you can buy, they ultimately fell short in the updated test. To determine the final order of our list, we turned to our Edmunds rankings to account for other factors, including comfort, cargo space, power, style and fuel economy. 

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Subcompact SUVs

Honda HR-V