It’s been a long time since the American pickup truck was just a utilitarian workhorse. The modern pickups that dominate America’s sales charts are larger, more refined, and more versatile than ever — and many of today’s buyers are concerned just as much with a pickup’s family-hauling ability as they are its payload or towing capacity. Naturally, then, safety ratings should be important to many of these truck buyers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is one of America’s most trusted sources for vehicle safety ratings. This independent agency puts new vehicles through a rigorous series of crash tests and other safety measurements, and then publishes those ratings broken down by model and segment. These rankings are then compiled into a list of the safest vehicles in each major segment for every new model year.

Most of the best-performing models for 2026 will be familiar names, but the top-ranked vehicle pickup might be something of a surprise. It’s not the best-selling Ford F-150, nor is it Chevy’s popular Silverado. In fact, it’s not even from Detroit’s Big Three at all — but it isn’t an imported brand, either. The safest full-size pickup, according to the IIHS, is none other than the highly controversial Tesla Cybertruck. While reactions to the Cybertruck may have been polarized — including negative headlines centering on nagging build quality issues — the pickup does at least seem to be very safe.

While the Tesla Cybertruck may lag behind its pickup truck competition in areas like off-road capability, its crash test performance and active safety systems help the truck earn high marks from the IIHS. These scores are in line with the Cybertruck’s similarly high safety rating from the NHTSA. 

The IIHS has two awards for recommended vehicles. The first is the Top Safety Pick designation, for which a vehicle has to earn “Good” scores in the three main IIHS crash test categories, as well as “Good” or “Acceptable” ratings for both its headlights and pedestrian front crash prevention systems. The Top Safety Pick+ designation takes things even further by adding a category for the performance of the vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention systems.

The 2026 Tesla Cybertruck aces the IIHS tests in nearly every category – not just in its crash test performance, but also the speed and accuracy of its crash prevention systems – making it the only IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winner among large pickup trucks. The only two categories where the Cybertruck did not earn the IIHS “Good” score were its seat belts and child restraints. The truck’s seatbelt reminder system received a “Marginal” rating due to a short reminder duration, while its LATCH child seat anchors received an “Acceptable” grade partly due to hard-to-find anchors.

While there have long been concerns about the Cybertruck’s blunt shape and unconventional stainless steel construction posing a threat to pedestrians, the truck is at least great at keeping its occupants safe. It should be noted that Tesla’s more conventional electric vehicles, like the Model 3 and Model Y, have also performed very well in both European and American safety testing, so maybe the Cybertruck’s high safety ratings shouldn’t be too surprising. While these impressive safety scores likely won’t change all opinions about Tesla’s highly unusual-looking pickup truck, they should at least help quell some of the initial perception of the Cybertruck being poorly built or unsafe for drivers.

That said, while the Tesla Cybertruck might be safe and have a bunch of cool features that set it apart from other trucks, it might not appeal to everyone. If you’re looking for an IIHS-approved, gasoline-powered truck that isn’t wedge-shaped, you’ll want to consider the Toyota Tundra. The 2026 Tundra is an IIHS Top Safety Pick award winner, earning the agency’s top score in all crash test categories but lagging slightly behind the Cybertruck in the performance of its headlights and front pedestrian crash systems.