Photo: Rbrko · CC BY-SA 4.0Gainesville reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Gainesville’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #117 of 128 graded towns in Florida, and #234 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Gainesville
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Gainesville’s police reported 3 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 5.9 per 100,000 residents a year, above the rest of Florida (4.7) and about the same as all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.1 times the rest of Florida
111 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (123 reported in 2025), 2.1 times the rest of Florida (53.7) and above 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, Gainesville reports less crime per resident than 28% (#234). Places like it ↓
A college town
Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, with 46,675 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 35% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Gainesville has 92,423 jobs based in town for 148,671 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read 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 Gainesville’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.
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, 2023–2025, against the rest of Florida.
Show as a table
| Year | Gainesville property | Rest of Florida property | Gainesville violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 28.7 | 19.0 | 7.4 | 3.5 |
| 2024 | 27.0 | 18.2 | 7.4 | 3.4 |
| 2025 | 22.0 | 14.1 | 6.3 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 22 property crimes reported
And about 6 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.
Homicides and robberies
Gainesville’s police reported 3 homicides, 123 robberies and 953 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 | Gainesville | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 10.9 | 5.7 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Gainesville | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 119 | 60.2 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 133 | 55.5 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 81.8 | 45.8 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
4,260 crimes reported in 2025
953 violent and 3,307 property, as reported to the FBI by Gainesville’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total. 2025 figures come from FBI Crime Data Explorer, which publishes violent crime, homicides, robberies and property crime only.
97 people died in crashes on Gainesville’s roads in 2019–2023
Gainesville had 96 fatal crashes in five years, in which 97 people died; 31 were pedestrians and 6 were cyclists. 9 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 13.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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.
Gainesville and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | D | 7.0 | 25.9 |
| Alachua | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Alachua has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Florida towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | D | 7.0 | 25.9 |
| Miramar | B | 1.4 | 8.3 |
| Coral Springs | B | 1.3 | 10.7 |
| Palm Bay | C+ | 3.1 | 9.5 |
| Lakeland | C− | 3.8 | 17.3 |
| West Palm Beach | D | 5.9 | 19.7 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Gainesville’s population (148,671), 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 Gainesville. 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 Gainesville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (150,376 in 2025); our figure for Gainesville is 148,671 (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 Gainesville
Is Gainesville, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Gainesville reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #117 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 7.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Florida and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Gainesville?
7.0 violent and 25.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Florida reports 3.3 and 17.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Gainesville?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Gainesville in 2025?
Gainesville’s police reported 3 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Gainesville?
Gainesville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Gainesville Police Department”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Gainesville.
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.