Photo: Michel Rathwell from Cornwall, Canada · CC BY 2.0Reported crime per resident in Clearwater fell 24% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Clearwater grades C for safety (#69 of 128 graded towns in Florida, and #84 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of FL” is every other Florida city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Clearwater
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 Florida towns on Clearwater’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Belleair Beach (A), Belleair (A), Safety Harbor (B+), Dunedin (B+), Largo (C). Greenbriar and Palm Harbor are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among Florida towns, closer to the middle
Florida’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Clearwater’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 46% of the 128 Florida towns we grade, against 33% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Clearwater’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 2.9 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Florida (4.8) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Florida
38.3 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (33 reported in 2025), below the rest of Florida (55.2) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Clearwater reports less crime per resident than 74% (#84). Places like it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Clearwater’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.8) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (15.8) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Florida.
Show as a table
| Year | Clearwater property | Rest of Florida property | Clearwater violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.0 | 22.2 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| 2023 | 18.3 | 19.3 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 15.0 | 18.4 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 14.0 | 14.3 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Clearwater’s police reported 1 homicides, 33 robberies and 290 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Florida and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Clearwater | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.4 | 6.3 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 3.4 | 5.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Clearwater | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 50.7 | 71.4 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 50.5 | 61.7 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 36.0 | 57.7 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 28.3 | 46.9 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 14 property crimes reported
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
1,925 crimes reported in 2025
290 violent and 1,635 property, as reported to the FBI by Clearwater’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
62 people died in crashes on Clearwater’s roads in 2019–2023
Clearwater had 60 fatal crashes in five years, in which 62 people died; 20 were pedestrians and 4 were cyclists.
That is 10.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Florida towns of 100,000+ people (13.1, 27 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Clearwater and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater | C | 2.8 | 15.8 |
| Dunedin | B+ | 0.8 | 8.2 |
| Largo | C | 2.9 | 19.4 |
| Safety Harbor | B+ | 1.2 | 5.8 |
| Belleair | A | 0.3 | 5.8 |
| Greenbriar | — | — | — |
| Belleair Beach | A | 0.4 | 5.0 |
| Palm Harbor | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Greenbriar and Palm Harbor are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Florida towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater | C | 2.8 | 15.8 |
| Boca Raton | C+ | 1.5 | 16.2 |
| Miami Gardens | C | 3.2 | 17.2 |
| Lakeland | C− | 3.8 | 17.3 |
| Fort Myers | C− | 5.2 | 13.5 |
| West Palm Beach | D | 5.9 | 19.7 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Clearwater’s population (114,364), by grade.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Clearwater. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Clearwater’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (116,679 in 2025); our figure for Clearwater is 114,364 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Clearwater
Is Clearwater, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Clearwater reports more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #69 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 2.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.4 in the rest of Florida and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Clearwater?
2.8 violent and 15.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Florida reports 3.4 and 17.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Clearwater?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Clearwater in 2025?
Clearwater’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Clearwater safer than Dunedin?
Dunedin reports less crime per resident than Clearwater: Dunedin grades B+ for safety and Clearwater C. Dunedin’s police reported 0.8 violent and 8.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Clearwater?
Clearwater’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Clearwater”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Clearwater.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.