Photo: Michael Kagdis · CC BY-SA 3.0Palm Beach sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Palm Beach grades B− for safety (#46 of 128 graded towns in Florida): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Beach
Palm Beach reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 Florida towns on Palm Beach’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: West Palm Beach (D), Lake Worth Beach (D), Riviera Beach (D−). Lantana has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Florida towns, higher
Florida’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Palm Beach’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 64% of the 128 Florida towns we grade, against 51% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Palm Beach has 15,420 jobs based in town for 9,423 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Palm Beach’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Palm Beach’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (13.0) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Palm Beach’s police reported 37 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.4 in the rest of Florida and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Palm Beach | Rest of Florida | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 11 property crimes reported
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Florida.
Show as a table
| Year | Palm Beach property | Rest of Florida property | Palm Beach violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 15.4 | 19.2 | 0.8 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 12.7 | 18.4 | 1.7 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 11.0 | 14.3 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
119 crimes reported in 2025
14 violent and 105 property, as reported to the FBI by Palm Beach’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Four people died in crashes on Palm Beach’s roads in 2019–2023
Palm Beach had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Florida towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (11.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Palm Beach’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Palm Beach’s own rate (8.6) 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.
Palm Beach and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach | B− | 1.3 | 13.0 |
| Lantana | — | — | — |
| West Palm Beach | D | 5.9 | 19.7 |
| Lake Worth Beach | D | 8.4 | 25.8 |
| Riviera Beach | D− | 9.0 | 30.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Lantana has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Florida towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach | B− | 1.3 | 13.0 |
| Indian Harbour Beach | B+ | 1.5 | 5.1 |
| Westlake | B | 0.8 | 10.5 |
| Orange Park | B− | 2.7 | 7.4 |
| Green Cove Springs | C+ | 3.1 | 9.9 |
| Lake Park | D− | 5.6 | 60.1 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Palm Beach’s population (9,423), by grade.
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 Beach. 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 Palm Beach’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (9,556 in 2025); our figure for Palm Beach is 9,423 (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 Beach
Is Palm Beach, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Palm Beach reports less crime per resident than 51% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #46 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 1.3 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 Beach?
1.3 violent and 13.0 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 crime going up or down in Palm Beach?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Palm Beach safer than West Palm Beach?
West Palm Beach reports more crime per resident than Palm Beach: West Palm Beach grades D for safety and Palm Beach B−. West Palm Beach’s police reported 5.9 violent and 19.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Palm Beach?
Palm Beach’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Palm Beach”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Palm Beach.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.