The 10 Safest Cities In Florida For 2021
We used data and science to determine the places in Florida where everyone sleeps safe and sound.
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Don't let a couple of shark bites and extra large alligators scare you, Florida is really safe: the Sunshine State actually has some of the safest places to live in America.
And, here, at HomeSnacks, we wanted to know just how safe is Florida? More importantly, where, exactly, are the safest cities in the state that boasts 315 days of sunshine a year? So, we consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 207 cities with over 5,000 residents. We looked at important factors like property crimes and violent crimes per capita for every place from Jacksonville to Miami.
We discovered that Florida has a bunch of amazing features that can't be ignored. For one, if you choose to live in any of Florida's safest places, you'll be front row to some of the tastiest seafood, many of the southeast's best beaches, and some of the country's nicest people. Heck, there's a reason notables like Hulk Hogan and Mandy Moore have been singing the praises of places like Clearwater and Orlando for years: these are not only some of the best places in the state, they are some of Florida's safest.
That's right, whether your looking to move to a quintessential Florida beach town like Boca Raton, a family friendly place like Coral Gables, or a place for young professionals like Fort Myers, there is a safe place for everyone.
So, want to know where can live in Florida where you don't have to worry about thieves stealing packages from your porch when you're not home? Keep reading.
Here are the 10 safest cities to live in Florida for 2021:
With so many amazingly safe cities to choose from in Florida, the job of deciding the safest city in Florida had to be left to the numbers.
What city is the safest place to live in Florida for 2021? Well according to the most recent FBI data we crunched, Parkland, Florida is the safest place to live in Florida. It's not surprising considering Parkland's scored a 9/10 for safety on our snackability scale with an emphasis on jobs and education.
More jobs = less time to be naughty.
Check out the rest of our not so naughty, very safe Florida cities and see how your city ranked.
For more reading on safe places to live in and around Florida, check out:
- Safest States In America
- Safest Cities In America
- Best Places To Live In Florida
- Cheapest Places To Live In Florida
The 10 Safest Cities In Florida For 2021
/10
Population: 35,244
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 9)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 25 (second safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 536 (third safest)
More on Parkland: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Well, if you paid any attention to the news the last couple of years, you've heard of Parkland because of the mass shooting at the local high school. So you're probably asking yourself, wtf? Why is this here?
The answer? School shootings don't really indicate how safe a place really is.
It's also a testament to how much of a surprise the shooting was here -- Parkland is a super safe community with little crime overall.
Parkland is a city in Broward County, Florida.
/10
Population: 18,124
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 38 (fourth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 457 (safest)
More on Marco Island: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Marco Island has been a mainstay on our rankings for the last six iterations -- this place is just constantly safe.
Property crime isn't a concern here as it's the safest and violent crime sneaks into the top ten.
It is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.
/10
Population: 71,946
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 4)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 45 (sixth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 503 (second safest)
More on Weston: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Weston ranks as the third safest city in Florida for 2021 based on a second safest ranking for property crime in the state.
Weston is a master planned suburban community in Broward County and it doesn't rank so shabby for violent crime either placing as the sixth safest in Florida.
Established as a city in 1996, much of the community was developed by Arvida/JMB Realty and is located near the western developmental boundary of Broward County. It is the most western city in Broward County, and its entire west side is next to the Everglades.
/10
Population: 7,525
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 2)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 39 (fifth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 598 (fourth safest)
More on Sanibel: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Sanibel is a city in Lee County, Florida, on Sanibel Island -- go figure.
There's barely any property crime here, so no one will steal your daiquiri by the pool.
Additionally, it's good to that Sanibel is a barrier island - a collection of sand on the leeward side of the more solid coral-rock of Pine Island - or a barrier to crime.
/10
Population: 7,379
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 0 (safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 799 (11th safest)
More on Longboat Key: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Little Longboat Key is a town in Manatee and Sarasota counties along the central west coast of Florida.
It has the safest rate of violent crimes and has the 11th safest rate for property crime.
It's the kind of place where you can sleep safe and sound. on the beach.
/10
Population: 6,123
Rank Last Year: 42 (Up 36)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 48 (ninth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 604 (fifth safest)
More on Lake Alfred: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Lake Alfred ranks as the sixth safest city in Florida for 2021 according to the data.
This small city in Polk County ranks ninth safest best in Florida for violent crimes per capita and fifth safest best for property crimes.
So you can be sure your car will be safe when you come to see a race at Auburndale Speedway. And you won't have to worry about racing away from a robber either as t's safe to say that this is a pretty calm little town.
/10
Population: 5,157
Rank Last Year: 24 (Up 17)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 58 (13th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 795 (tenth safest)
More on Flagler Beach: Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Located just up the coast from Daytona Beach, Flagler Beach is a whole lot safer than its southern neighbor.
You don't have to worry about someone stealing your day's catch from the Flagler Beach fishing pier because the city recorded one of the lowest property crime rates in Florida over 2019.
Additionally, Flagler Beach only had 3 violent crimes over the year. So choose Flagler Beach instead of Daytona Beach, one of Florida's most dangerous cities, if you're keen on moving to Florida's east coast.
/10
Population: 6,018
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 6)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 49 (11th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 847 (14th safest)
More on Bay Harbor Islands: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Bay Harbor Islands is situated just north of the much more dangerous Miami Beach.
Bay Harbor Islands has golf courses, gourmet markets, and safety -- in short, everything you need for a high quality of life.
There were only 3 violent crimes committed in Bay Harbor Islands over 2019, and fewer than one property crime each month. Overall, there's very little to worry about, crime-wise, in Bay Harbor Islands making it a great place to vacation, start a family, or retire.
/10
Population: 8,616
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 46 (eighth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 986 (20th safest)
More on Indian Harbour Beach: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Give yourself a round of applause, Indian Harbour Beach -- in the last year of available data, you've jumped 16 spots in the rankings to land on the top 10 safest cities in Florida. And to what can we attribute this impressive change? Mostly the stellar #1 ranking in violent crime, which the city earned with a violent crime rate more than 16 times lower than the national average.
Add to that the fact that Indian Harbour Beach is the FIRST tsunami ready community on the country's east coast, and you've got yourself a place that's protected from the vicissitudes of both human and meteorological forces.
/10
Population: 13,273
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 75 (19th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 836 (13th safest)
More on North Palm Beach: Photos | Search Homes For Sale | Data | Detailed Crime Report
Located between #2 Tequesta and West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach ranks as the 9th safest city in Florida overall, which is a moderate improvement compared with the previous year's numbers. The city has an especially low rate of property crime, with residents facing only a 1 in 126 chance of dealing with such a crime in the last year of available data.
And North Palm Beach protects more than just its human residents - John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, the only state park in Palm Beach County, keeps the region's flora and fauna just as safe from harm.
How we calculated the safest cities in Florida for 2021
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the safest, we didn't want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's most recent report of crime (Published Sept 2020) in Florida.
Specifically, we analyzed the FBI's Uniform Crime Report which summarizes the number of property crimes and violent crimes in each city per year. We used two criteria:- Violent crimes per capita (murders, assaults, rapes, armed robberies)
- Property crimes per capita (thefts, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts)
For example, there were a total of 198 crimes committed in Parkland which had a reported population of 35,244. That means the number of crimes per capita is 0.0056 which translates into a 1 in 178 chance of being the victim of a crime.
We only looked at cities that have populations of more than 5,000 people reported to the FBI in 2019, the last reporting year. This left us with a total of 207 of the biggest cities in Florida to rank.
We ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 207 where 1 in any particular category is the safest.
Next, we averaged each places two criteria to create a Safety Index. We crowned the place with the lowest overall Safety Score "The Safest Place In Florida" with any ties going to the bigger city. You can download the data here.
The safest city in Florida, based on our criteria, is Parkland. The most dangerous city in Florida? Florida City, where residents had a 1 in 10 chance of being the victim of a crime.
Note: This report is not an analysis of the effectiveness of local police departments, nor does it reflect the fact that people from out of town may come into a community and cause a crime. It simply looks at where crimes occurred most frequently, based on a city's population.
There You Have It - The Safest Cities In The Sunshine State
Looking at the data, you can tell that Parkland is as safe as they come, according to science and data.
But as most Florida residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.
Here's a look at the most dangerous cities in Florida according to the data:
- Florida City
- Lake City
- Opa Locka
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Florida
- Best Places To Buy A House In Florida
- Best Places To Retire In Florida
Where Are The 10 Safest Cities In Florida For 2021?
| Rank | City | Population | Violent Crimes Per 100k | Property Crimes Per 100k |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parkland, FL | 35,244 | 25 | 536 |
| 2 | Marco Island, FL | 18,124 | 38 | 457 |
| 3 | Weston, FL | 71,946 | 45 | 503 |
| 4 | Sanibel, FL | 7,525 | 39 | 598 |
| 5 | Longboat Key, FL | 7,379 | 0 | 799 |
| 6 | Lake Alfred, FL | 6,123 | 48 | 604 |
| 7 | Flagler Beach, FL | 5,157 | 58 | 795 |
| 8 | Bay Harbor Islands, FL | 6,018 | 49 | 847 |
| 9 | Indian Harbour Beach, FL | 8,616 | 46 | 986 |
| 10 | North Palm Beach, FL | 13,273 | 75 | 836 |
How Is Your Town In ?
Breaking Down Crime In The Safest And Most Dangerous Cities In Florida
About Chris Kolmar
Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.
He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.
If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.
You can find out more about him on LinkedIn.
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