Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Punta Gorda

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Punta Gorda City HallPhoto: Wknight94 · CC BY-SA 3.0
A−
Safety in Punta Gorda · FBI data, 2023–2025

Punta Gorda reports less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns

On crimes reported to the FBI by Punta Gorda’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A− for safety: #10 of 128 graded towns in Florida.

Violent crime
0.5
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of FL (3.4)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
6.2
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of FL (17.3)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
419
31 violent · 388 property
2023–2025
Trend
▲ Rising
2023 to 2025
beyond ordinary swings

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 · In brief

What stands out about safety in Punta Gorda

Among Florida towns, higher

Florida’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Punta Gorda’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 92% of the 128 Florida towns we grade, against 80% nationally. Safety Grade ↓

Reported crime is rising

Crime reported per resident rose 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.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Punta Gorda’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.

Where Punta Gorda sits
A Violent 0.5B+ Property 6.2
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 80%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Florida towns we grade (128)Less crime than 92% · #10 of 128
Places of 5,000–25,000 people (3,282)Less crime than 80%
A firm grade. Built on 419 reported crimes over three years; ordinary year-to-year swings wouldn’t change the letter.
A note on the data.Property crimes reported to the FBI went from 63 in 2023 to 135 in 2024; 2023 figures come from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer; the FBI's published 2023 table doesn't include this department; 2024 figures come from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer; the FBI's published 2024 table doesn't include this department; the grade uses the figures as published.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Trend

Reported crime is rising

Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Florida.

Show as a table
YearPunta Gorda propertyRest of Florida propertyPunta Gorda violentRest of Florida violent
20233.019.30.63.6
20246.618.40.83.5
20259.214.30.13.0

Crimes per 1,000 residents

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Punta Gorda’s police reported 31 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.4 in the rest of Florida and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, about 9 property crimes reported

And fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (9.2)Violent crime (0.1)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Punta Gorda0.1
Rest of FL3.0
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Punta Gorda9.2
Rest of FL14.3
U.S. (FBI)15.5

Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.

What gets reported

192 crimes reported in 2025

2 violent and 190 property, as reported to the FBI by Punta Gorda’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft176
Burglary14
Vehicle theft0
Aggravated assault2
Robbery0
Rape0
Homicide0
Arson1
2
violent crimes
190
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

On the roads

Seven people died in crashes on Punta Gorda’s roads in 2019–2023

Punta Gorda had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 2 were pedestrians.

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 Punta Gorda’s size would see about 11 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Punta Gorda’s own rate (6.9) is context, not a ranking.

7
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
2
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
6.9
per 100,000 a year · Florida towns of 5,000–25,000: 11.0

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.

Next door

Punta Gorda and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
Punta GordaA−0.56.2
Charlotte Park———
Charlotte Harbor———

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Charlotte Park and Charlotte Harbor are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.

Florida towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
Punta GordaA−0.56.2
MaitlandC+1.913.8
AuburndaleC2.019.3
StuartC−3.619.4
Fort Walton BeachC−4.916.0
CocoaD8.826.9

The five graded Florida towns closest to Punta Gorda’s population (20,383), by grade.

How to read these numbers

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 Punta Gorda. 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 Punta Gorda’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (20,614 in 2025); our figure for Punta Gorda is 20,383 (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 Punta Gorda

Is Punta Gorda, FL safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Punta Gorda reports less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #10 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 0.5 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 Punta Gorda?

0.5 violent and 6.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Florida reports 3.4 and 17.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.

Is crime going up or down in Punta Gorda?

Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.

Who polices Punta Gorda?

Punta Gorda’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Punta Gorda”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Punta Gorda.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Does Punta Gorda feel safe walking around at night?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Post a heads-up

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.