Few U.S. towns record more crime per resident than South Padre Island
It has more violent crime than 100% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 100%. On top of that, a Safety Grade of D− follows from crimes South Padre Island’s police reported over the years 2023 to 2025. The local count comes to 16.2 violent crimes and 120.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 4.3 and 23.5 in the rest of Texas. The graded rate fell 19% from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of TX” is every other Texas 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 South Padre Island
A job center
South Padre Island has 3,678 jobs based in town for 2,086 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 South Padre Island’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | South Padre Island | Rest of Texas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.6 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 19.0 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 14.3 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 15.4 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
South Padre Island’s police reported 100 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 16.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | South Padre Island property | Rest of Texas property | South Padre Island violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 140.6 | 27.3 | 15.6 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 133.8 | 26.3 | 19.0 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 118.2 | 23.9 | 14.3 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | 108.3 | 20.6 | 15.4 | 3.8 |
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 Texas.
Crime in South Padre Island 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 15 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
257 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.
32 violent and 225 property, as reported to the FBI by South Padre Island’s police.
One person died in crashes on South Padre Island’s roads in 2019–2023
South Padre Island had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Texas towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of South Padre Island’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so South Padre Island’s own rate (6.9) 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.
South Padre Island and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Padre Island | D− | 16.2 | 120.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Padre Island | D− | 16.2 | 120.1 |
| Collinsville | A+ | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Quitman | B+ | 1.1 | 6.1 |
| Patton Village | B+ | 1.7 | 4.1 |
| Idalou | B+ | 1.8 | 4.9 |
| Blanco | C+ | 3.3 | 9.2 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to South Padre Island’s population (2,086), 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 South Padre Island. 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 South Padre Island’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,077 in 2025); our figure for South Padre Island is 2,086 (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 South Padre Island
Is South Padre Island, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, South Padre Island reports more crime per resident than 100% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 16.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in South Padre Island?
16.2 violent and 120.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Texas reports 4.3 and 23.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices South Padre Island?
South Padre Island’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “South Padre Island”. 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 South Padre Island.
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.