What is are the best compact SUV safety ratings? It is not always a direct answer, as the safest car can be different for different drivers. Different models of compact SUVs protect you better than others; actual crash data shows that this is true. We believe that using real data is far preferable to standardized tests with dummies. You and your loved ones are not dummies.

How We Define Compact SUVs

Compact SUVs have been on the market since the early eighties. They are sporty and convenient and have nice passenger and cargo space. But how do we define this class of automobile? It’s a little complicated.

A compact SUV is bigger than a mini SUV and smaller than a midsize SUV. Beyond this generalization, there is no official definition of size or dimensions or weight for this classification. Typically, a crossover is built on a car chassis, while an SUV uses a truck chassis. Within the compact SUV market, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes manufacturers have used compact or coupe passenger car bodies, so the definition is a bit blurry.

But what we consider to be the ultimate question is, how safe are they? And what is the safest compact SUV for you?

HOW WE DEFINE CAR SAFETY

How safe a compact SUV is depends on how you are defining safety. Compared to other rating systems, The Auto Professor gives auto safety ratings based on actual, real-life crash data, not standardized tests that use dummies. We look at drivers who wore seat belts in the worst crashes. We look at actual data on who walked away and who didn’t.

As you can read in an Overview of Auto Grades—where you will learn more about Auto Grades, why we need them and how they are different from other star rating systems—all vehicles get an Overall Auto Grade safety rating. If the vehicle is very popular and there are lots and lots of these vehicles on the road, then we are likely to have lots and lots of data. When this happens, we can then personalize the car’s Auto Grade for drivers by age and gender. In these cases, you get a safety rating based on who you—and your loved ones—really are. Not a theoretical person. Real people. Real information.

COMPACT SUV SAFETY RATINGS IN 2018, 2019 AND 2020

We understand that buying an affordable, safe car is often more important than color and stripes and other considerations. As the list below shows, there are many safe compact SUVs from which to choose. We are often asked, “what is the best?” The list below gives the compact SUVs for model years 2018, 2019 and 2020 that get an overall A or A-. In other words, based on our data analysis, we think that these are the top tier, safe compact SUVs. If you are thinking about a different vehicle, feel free to do your own search using the Auto Grade search bar below.