Photo: Connor J. Williams · CC BY 3.0On violent crime, Lakeland has a higher rate per resident than 81% of U.S. towns
The Safety Grade comes out at C−, drawn from crimes Lakeland’s police reported through 2023 to 2025: #84 of 128 graded towns in Florida, and #128 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. By contrast, the crimes the grade counts fell 19% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Behind the grade sit 3.8 violent crimes and 17.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 3.3 and 17.2 in the rest of Florida.
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 Lakeland
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Lakeland’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 6.9 per 100,000 residents a year, above the rest of Florida (4.7) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Florida
39.8 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (60 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, Lakeland reports less crime per resident than 61% (#128). Places like it ↓
A job center
Lakeland has 102,307 jobs based in town for 125,520 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 Lakeland’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 property rate (17.3) 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 | Lakeland property | Rest of Florida property | Lakeland violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 19.5 | 19.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 17.0 | 18.4 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 15.3 | 14.3 | 3.7 | 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of Florida.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Lakeland | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 11.2 | 5.0 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Lakeland | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 36.5 | 62.0 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 35.9 | 57.8 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 46.9 | 46.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Lakeland’s police reported 5 homicides, 60 robberies and 471 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.
Crime in Lakeland 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 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
2,428 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.
471 violent and 1,957 property, as reported to the FBI by Lakeland’s police.
118 people died in crashes on Lakeland’s roads in 2019–2023
Lakeland had 110 fatal crashes in five years, in which 118 people died; 30 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 18 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 19.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Lakeland and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland | C− | 3.8 | 17.3 |
| Crystal Lake | — | — | — |
| Combee Settlement | — | — | — |
| Polk City | — | — | — |
| Plant City | — | — | — |
| Lakeland Highlands | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Crystal Lake, Combee Settlement and Lakeland Highlands are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Polk City and Plant City have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Florida towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland | C− | 3.8 | 17.3 |
| Miramar | B | 1.4 | 8.3 |
| Coral Springs | B | 1.3 | 10.7 |
| Clearwater | C | 2.8 | 15.8 |
| Miami Gardens | C | 3.2 | 17.2 |
| West Palm Beach | D | 5.9 | 19.7 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Lakeland’s population (125,520), 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 Lakeland. 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 Lakeland’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (127,935 in 2025); our figure for Lakeland is 125,520 (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 Lakeland
Is Lakeland, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lakeland reports more crime per resident than 76% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #84 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 3.8 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 Lakeland?
3.8 violent and 17.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Florida reports 3.3 and 17.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Lakeland in 2025?
Lakeland’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Lakeland?
Lakeland’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lakeland”. 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 Lakeland.
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.