Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 3.0What is recorded in Lake City, and why there is no grade
For a graded neighbor, the nearest is Gainesville (D), 39 miles away. Lake City’s police reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025.
For every 1,000 residents, about 23 property crimes reported
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.
And about 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
The years Lake City’s police reported
Show as a table
| Year | Lake City | Rest of Florida | Lake City | Rest of Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | not reported | 22.1 | not reported | 4.4 |
| 2023 | not reported | 19.2 | not reported | 3.6 |
| 2024 | not reported | 18.4 | not reported | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 22.6 | 14.3 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of Florida. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.
343 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
52 violent and 291 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake City’s police.
The nearest Florida towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | D | 39 mi | 7.0 | 25.9 |
| Orange Park | B− | 56 mi | 2.7 | 7.4 |
| Perry | D | 56 mi | 6.7 | 29.6 |
| Green Cove Springs | C+ | 59 mi | 3.1 | 9.9 |
| Palatka | D | 69 mi | 4.3 | 32.7 |
| Neptune Beach | B | 75 mi | 1.0 | 12.3 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Lake City. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Lake City.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
12 people died in crashes on Lake City’s roads in 2019–2023
Lake City had 12 fatal crashes in five years, in which 12 people died; 2 were pedestrians. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 19.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Florida towns of 5,000–25,000 people (11.0, 308 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.
Lake City and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | — | — | — |
| Five Points | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Watertown and Five Points are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 Lake City. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Lake City’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (12,895 in 2025); our figure for Lake City is 12,788 (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 Lake City
Is Lake City, FL safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Lake City. The nearest Florida towns with a grade are Gainesville (D, 39 mi), Orange Park (B−, 56 mi), Perry (D, 56 mi).
Who polices Lake City?
Lake City’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lake City”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lake City.
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.