IMO the two most secure browsers are Chrome, and Firefox with NoScript.
Chrome is a better default option because its secure sandbox applies to all sites, and doesn't get in your way. There are some reasons not to use Chrome, but it's not a direct threat to your privacy. If privacy against Google is a concern, you can still change the search engine, enable Do-Not-Track, and avoid using the "Sign in to Chrome" feature.
Firefox with NoScript (whitelisted or not) also probably has the best defense against reflected XSS, and against CSRF of devices on your home network including your router. Firefox with NoScript can be a good option if you prefer how some websites behave with javascript disabled anyway, and you can cope with the occasional horribly subtle breakage that requires you to remember you're using NoScript (and need to whitelist the site). Unfortunately more websites (like StackOverflow) are now using Javascript for essential functions. It's attractive to the paranoid... though it's starting to look outdated, and Firefox really needs to work on sandboxing. But there are other reasons people prefer Firefox to Chrome. If NoScript is working for you, then so long as you don't get complacent, you're not going to be less secure than the current average user.
Third place goes to the latest version of IE, which has some sandboxing. There are certainly other reasons to dislike it ;).
Safari on Windows I don't trust at all really. (Native Safari may benefit from some sandboxing nowadays though). Opera gets marked down for not having NoScript (at least, nothing as well-developed as the FF version).
Firefox with NoScript set to "allow scripts globally" still protects against a few attacks (including the local router CSRF), and gives you the option of switching to whitelist-only if there's an unpatched exploit going around. Firefox is decent at blocking known-vulnerable versions of Java. And you can still block Flash globally (or install a FlashBlock extension, or enable the new builtin click-to-play). If you're not willing or able to use the latest version of IE or Chrome, it's a pretty good alternative; it just can't make up for the lack of sandboxing.