Ritz Theater · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5Sanford records more violent crime per head than 91% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported by Sanford’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #110 of 128 graded towns in Florida. Add to that, its police logs show 5.6 violent crimes and 23.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of Florida the numbers are 3.3 and 17.2. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 27% 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 Sanford
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Florida towns on Sanford’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Lake Mary (B). Midway is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Sanford is home to Seminole State College of Florida, with 8,201 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 5% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Sanford has 40,531 jobs based in town for 67,483 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 Sanford’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Sanford property | Rest of Florida property | Sanford violent | Rest of Florida violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 29.7 | 22.0 | 5.8 | 4.4 |
| 2023 | 27.8 | 19.2 | 6.2 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 22.5 | 18.3 | 5.4 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 19.7 | 14.2 | 5.3 | 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, 2022–2025, against the rest of Florida.
Crime in Sanford 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 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Sanford | Rest of Florida | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.2 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Sanford’s police reported 1,125 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Florida and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
1,709 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.
363 violent and 1,346 property, as reported to the FBI by Sanford’s police.
59 people died in crashes on Sanford’s roads in 2019–2023
Sanford had 54 fatal crashes in five years, in which 59 people died; 13 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 18.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Florida towns of 25,000–100,000 people (9.7, 147 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.
Sanford and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Midway 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford | D | 5.6 | 23.2 |
| Wellington | B | 1.2 | 8.7 |
| Palm Beach Gardens | B− | 0.9 | 15.4 |
| Delray Beach | C− | 3.2 | 19.6 |
| Apopka | C− | 4.2 | 22.1 |
| Ocala | D | 4.7 | 28.2 |
The five graded Florida towns closest to Sanford’s population (67,483), 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 Sanford. 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 Sanford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (68,469 in 2025); our figure for Sanford is 67,483 (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 Sanford
Is Sanford, FL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Sanford reports more crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #110 of 128 in Florida. Its police reported 5.6 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 Sanford?
5.6 violent and 23.2 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 Sanford in 2025?
Sanford’s police reported 6 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 8.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Sanford safer than Lake Mary?
Lake Mary reports less crime per resident than Sanford: Lake Mary grades B for safety and Sanford D. Lake Mary’s police reported 1.2 violent and 8.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Sanford?
Sanford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Sanford”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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 Sanford.
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.