5 New Family Minivans Ranked From Best To Worst IIHS Safety Ratings

While SUVs and crossovers dominate new car sales, they aren't the only spacious people movers available. Minivans are still out there, with almost 400,000 buyers opting for these boxes on wheels in 2025. However, unlike utilities, the minivan market has only a handful of players, making comparison shopping easier. And given the focus on family transportation, the segment's buyers often focus on safety. One set of standards comes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This non-profit group claims to fill testing gaps left by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 5-Star Safety Ratings.

In recent testing, IIHS ranked the Toyota Sienna on top, followed by the Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Voyager, Chrysler Pacifica, and Kia Carnival. We'll walk you through the details and help make sense of the IIHS rankings, which skip the NHTSA star system in favor of plainly worded qualifiers (good, acceptable, marginal, and poor). These grades apply to eight different IIHS testing categories. The small overlap front test measures protection when 25% of the vehicle's width strikes a fixed barrier, while the moderate overlap test covers 40% and crashes into a deformable barrier. For side testing, IIHS sends an SUV-like sled into the vehicle's driver's side at 37 mph. The organization's headlight ratings assess illumination on straightaways and curves.

On the technology side, the vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention test assesses how the forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems respond to approaching vehicles. None of the five minivans covered here underwent that assessment, but most did receive a pedestrian crash prevention rating, which analyzes pedestrian detection capability in day and night settings. Core safety is measured by how well the seat belt reminders work and how easy child-seat installation is with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children).

The 2026 Toyota Sienna earns the top spot with more good IIHS safety ratings than any other minivan in the group. These areas included the small overlap front and side tests, plus assessments of headlights, seatbelt reminder, and the LATCH system (a good-plus rating for LATCH). However, the Sienna wasn't all thumbs up. It only earned a marginal rating in the moderate overlap front test and an acceptable rating for its pedestrian-detection system. It's important to note that the IIHS based its findings on a 2021 Sienna, but it's not unusual for testing organizations to carry forward safety ratings from previous model years when a model hasn't been redesigned or substantially updated.

Interestingly, despite the usual family-hauling duties for minivans, none among these five, including the Sienna, received a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ designation from IIHS. The requirements for this status include a good rating in all three crash tests (small overlap front, moderate overlap front, and side). For comparison, the Sienna received an overall 5/5-star rating from the NHTSA. Meanwhile, the government gave this Toyota a 4-star score for its overall frontal crash performance. This test combines driver and front seat passenger safety into a single rating based on a simulated head-on collision between two similar vehicles at 35 mph. The Sienna aced NHTSA's side crash test, with a five-out-of-five score.

The 2027 Honda Odyssey ranks second in IIHS's minivan safety roundup — the 2026 model year also had the same results, based on an assessment of a 2018 Odyssey. This is only because it earned a bottom-of-the-barrel rating in the moderate overlap front test. In particular, the assessment flagged poor performance in head and neck protection and a marginal grade for preventing chest injury (both for rear passengers). Scores were good for the small overlap front and side tests. The Odyssey also earned a good rating for seat belt reminders and a good-plus rating for LATCH ease of use.

Headlight testing can be tricky, as different groups have different standards. But among these five minivans, only the Sienna received a good grade for headlight capability; the Odyssey received an acceptable rating. In its review of the Odyssey, the IIHS flagged the low beams for illumination that was "inadequate on the gradual left curve," and high beams that were "inadequate on the sharp left curve." The Odyssey did outperform the Sienna in NHTSA's testing, though: For the 2025 model year (the most recent edition tested), Honda's minivan earned a 5-star overall front safety rating, matching the Sienna's overall score and side-crash results (5 stars for both).

Chrysler brought back the Voyager minivan for the 2020 model year as a low-cost alternative to the Pacifica, but it will be discontinued in 2026. However, in IIHS's pecking order, the 2026 Voyager sits above the 2027 Pacifica. This isn't necessarily just because of higher ratings, but also partly because of testing inconsistencies. This final Voyager didn't receive the front moderate overlap test (the Pacifica did). In addition, the Voyager earned an acceptable rating for LATCH use, while the 2027 Pacifica wasn't graded in this area (the 2026 model received the same score as the Voyager). IIHS's scores for the Voyager are based on a 2017 Pacifica.

Like every vehicle in the group, the Voyager received a good rating for the small overlap front test. However, it received a poor grade for headlight function. IIHS stated that visibility was "inadequate" in different low-beam and high-beam tests. For front pedestrian crash prevention, the Voyager was ranked as acceptable. NHTSA didn't test the 2026 Voyager, but the 2025 edition earned 5-star ratings for overall safety and for frontal and side crash tests.

The facelifted Pacifica will be Chrysler's only offering for 2027. Unsurprisingly, its IIHS performance matches the Voyager where testing overlaps (a good rating in the small overlap front test and an acceptable score in the side crash test and front pedestrian crash prevention). One quirk appears in IIHS's report: the 2027 Pacifica is tagged with a poor grade for headlight performance (a carryover from a test of a 2023 Pacifica). However, the 2027 model year gets a reworked front end with new headlights (for all but the base trim), which IIHS doesn't address.

In addition, the 2027 Pacifica received a marginal ranking in the moderate overlap front test, an evaluation missing from the Voyager's IIHS results. These findings show acceptable head and neck safety but only marginal protection against chest injury, which lowers the overall rating. IIHS didn't test the Pacifica's LATCH system. Predictably, the Pacifica has the same NHTSA safety ratings as the Voyager (5 stars for overall, front, and side crash testing), though this covers the 2025 model year.

Among these five minivans, IIHS ratings put the 2026 Kia Carnival last. Its only good grade is in the small overlap front test, which is the same as the Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager. Meanwhile, IIHS gave this Kia an acceptable rating for side-crash performance, seatbelt reminders, and LATCH use. The sole marginal grade comes from the moderate overlap front test, which IIHS noted as producing lower marks for head, neck, and chest injury protection. These marginal scores come from an evaluation of a 2023 Carnival, and it didn't consider headlight illumination or the front pedestrian crash prevention system. The Carnival, like both Chryslers, only had IIHS scoring in five of eight areas, while the Sienna and Odyssey were graded in seven categories.

In NHTSA testing, on the other hand, the 2026 Carnival received a 5-star overall safety rating and the same grade in side-crash safety performance. However, the overall front safety score wasn't as high. The front passenger test produced a 4-star result, along with a 5-star rating for the driver, which brought the combined rating to 4 stars.