Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0Palm Bay records more violent crime per head than 74% of U.S. towns
The graded rate fell 18% from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 3.1 violent crimes and 9.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 3.4 and 17.4 in the rest of Florida. Palm Bay grades C+ for safety overall (#57 of 128 graded towns in Florida, and #50 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025.
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 Palm Bay
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Florida towns on Palm Bay’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: West Melbourne (B−). Grant-Valkaria, Malabar and Melbourne have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Micco is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among Florida towns, closer to the middle
Florida’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Palm Bay’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 55% of the 128 Florida towns we grade, against 42% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Palm Bay’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 5.0 per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the rest of Florida (4.7) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Florida
42.8 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (52 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, Palm Bay reports less crime per resident than 85% (#50). Places like 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 Palm Bay’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Palm Bay’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (3.1) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Palm Bay property | Rest of Florida property | Palm Bay violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 10.2 | 19.4 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 10.2 | 18.6 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 8.3 | 14.4 | 2.7 | 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 | Palm Bay | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 7.8 | 5.0 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Palm Bay | Rest of Florida | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 41.8 | 61.9 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 51.7 | 57.5 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 35.1 | 46.8 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Palm Bay’s police reported 4 homicides, 52 robberies and 402 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 Palm Bay 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.
1,631 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.
402 violent and 1,229 property, as reported to the FBI by Palm Bay’s police.
48 people died in crashes on Palm Bay’s roads in 2019–2023
Palm Bay had 43 fatal crashes in five years, in which 48 people died; 18 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 5 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 7.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below 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.
Palm Bay and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Bay | C+ | 3.1 | 9.5 |
| Grant-Valkaria | — | — | — |
| Malabar | — | — | — |
| Melbourne | — | — | — |
| West Melbourne | B− | 1.6 | 11.1 |
| Micco | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Grant-Valkaria, Malabar and Melbourne have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Micco is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
Florida towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Bay | C+ | 3.1 | 9.5 |
| Miramar | B | 1.4 | 8.3 |
| Coral Springs | B | 1.3 | 10.7 |
| Lakeland | C− | 3.8 | 17.3 |
| West Palm Beach | D | 5.9 | 19.7 |
| Gainesville | D | 7.0 | 25.9 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Palm Bay’s population (148,092), 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 Palm Bay. 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 Palm Bay’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (148,091 in 2025); our figure for Palm Bay is 148,092 (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 Palm Bay
Is Palm Bay, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Palm Bay reports more crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #57 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 3.1 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 Palm Bay?
3.1 violent and 9.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Florida reports 3.4 and 17.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Palm Bay in 2025?
Palm Bay’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Palm Bay safer than West Melbourne?
West Melbourne reports less crime per resident than Palm Bay: West Melbourne grades B− for safety and Palm Bay C+. West Melbourne’s police reported 1.6 violent and 11.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Palm Bay?
Palm Bay’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Palm Bay”. 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 Palm Bay.
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.