Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Safety in Mary Esther, FL: what is reported
Widen the search to 25 miles and 3 graded towns turn up. The grade needs a town’s own FBI figures, and Mary Esther has none for 2023–2025. The nearest town with a Safety Grade is Fort Walton Beach, 2 miles away, graded C−.
The nearest Florida towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Walton Beach | C− | 2 mi | 4.9 | 16.0 |
| Niceville | A+ | 14 mi | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Crestview | B | 24 mi | 1.6 | 8.4 |
| Gulf Breeze | A | 31 mi | 0.5 | 2.9 |
| Pensacola | B+ | 32 mi | 0.9 | 7.3 |
| DeFuniak Springs | C− | 38 mi | 3.7 | 17.6 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Mary Esther. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Mary Esther.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Five people died in crashes on Mary Esther’s roads in 2019–2023
Mary Esther had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is more than is typical for Florida towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (10.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Mary Esther’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Mary Esther’s own rate (24.6) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Mary Esther and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Walton Beach | C− | 4.9 | 16.0 |
| Hurlburt Field | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Hurlburt Field is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its 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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Mary Esther
Is Mary Esther, FL safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Mary Esther. Mary Esther has no FBI crime figures of its own for 2023–2025, so there is nothing to grade it on. The nearest Florida towns with a grade are Fort Walton Beach (C−, 2 mi), Niceville (A+, 14 mi), Crestview (B, 24 mi).
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 Mary Esther.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.