Photo: Averette · CC BY 3.0In Lake Wales, the kinds of crime the grade counts fell 45% per resident from 2023 to 2025
Lake Wales’s overall Safety Grade is C (#76 of 128 graded towns in Florida): more crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Even so, for every 1,000 residents, 3.2 violent crimes and 16.8 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of Florida, the figures are 3.4 and 17.2. Violent crime here is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 70%.
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 Lake Wales
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Florida towns on Lake Wales’ borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Winter Haven (C). Dundee has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Florida towns, closer to the middle
Florida’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Lake Wales’ place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 41% of the 128 Florida towns we grade, against 28% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Lake Wales’ 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 (3.2) 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 (16.8) 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 per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Wales property | Rest of Florida property | Lake Wales violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 25.8 | 22.1 | 6.0 | 4.4 |
| 2023 | 23.6 | 19.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 15.3 | 18.4 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 11.9 | 14.3 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Crime in Lake Wales per 1,000 residents
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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Wales | Rest of Florida | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lake Wales’ police reported 167 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.4 in the rest of Florida and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
274 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.
58 violent and 216 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake Wales’ police.
29 people died in crashes on Lake Wales’s roads in 2019–2023
Lake Wales had 26 fatal crashes in five years, in which 29 people died; 8 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 34.6 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 Wales and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Wales | C | 3.2 | 16.8 |
| Dundee | — | — | — |
| Winter Haven | C | 2.8 | 15.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Dundee has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Florida towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Wales | C | 3.2 | 16.8 |
| Niceville | A+ | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Davenport | A | 0.8 | 3.6 |
| Maitland | C+ | 1.9 | 13.8 |
| Seminole | C+ | 1.6 | 17.6 |
| Stuart | C− | 3.6 | 19.4 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Lake Wales’ population (18,650), by grade.
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 Wales. 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 Wales’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (18,200 in 2025); our figure for Lake Wales is 18,650 (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 Wales
Is Lake Wales, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lake Wales reports more crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #76 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 3.2 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 Lake Wales?
3.2 violent and 16.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Florida reports 3.4 and 17.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Lake Wales safer than Winter Haven?
Winter Haven reports less crime per resident than Lake Wales: Winter Haven grades C for safety and Lake Wales C. Winter Haven’s police reported 2.8 violent and 15.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lake Wales?
Lake Wales’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lake Wales”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lake Wales.
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.