13 FL Cities Ranked Safest Places To Live In U.S.

FLORIDA — Thirteen Florida cities were ranked for safety among the largest 200 major cities in the United States in 2022, according to research by SmartAsset.

The rate of violent crime, deaths in vehicle crashes and drug overdoses varies widely among the Florida communities, but St. Petersburg and Orlando fared worst in the analysis.

Nearly half of all buyers (49 percent) cited the quality of a neighborhood as the No. 1 factor for determining where to live, ahead of both affordability (37 percent) and proximity to friends and family (37 percent).

Safety is the primary concern for residents, so the team at SmartAsset set out to learn which cities in the U.S. are safest. The website analyzed data from 200 of the largest cities in the country across the following five metrics: violent crime, property crime, vehicular mortality rate, drug poisoning mortality rate and the percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking.

All crime metrics are per 100,000 residents.

These are the top five safest cities in the country, according to SmartAsset:

1. Frisco, Texas
2. McKinney, Texas
3. McAllen, Texas
4. Santa Clarita, California
5. Plano, Texas

Here are how 13 Florida cities were ranked in the study:

Hialeah: Ranks No. 37 with 201 violent crimes; 1,681 property crimes; 11.7 vehicular deaths and 11.4 drug poisoning deaths.

Port St. Lucie: Ranks No. 74 with 131 violent crimes; 778 property crimes; 14.4 vehicular deaths and 23.6 drug poisoning deaths.

Pembroke Pines: Ranks No. 86 with 119 violent crimes; 1,407 property crimes; 12.6 vehicular deaths and 28.3 drug poisoning deaths.

Tallahassee: Ranks No. 99 with 794 violent crimes; 2,947 property crimes; 10.2 vehicular deaths and 11.2 drug poisoning deaths.

Miami: Ranks No. 104 with 593 violent crimes; 2,860 property crimes; 11.7 vehicular deaths and 11.4 drug poisoning deaths.

Gainesville: Ranks No. 108 with 749 violent crimes; 3,103 property crimes; 12.2 vehicular deaths and 11.7 drug poisoning deaths.

Hollywood: Ranks No. 117 with 344 violent crimes; 2,085 property crimes; 12.6 vehicular deaths and 28.3 drug poisoning deaths.

Cape Coral: Ranks No. 118 with 135 violent crimes; 1,049 property crimes; 14.1 vehicular deaths and 33.1 drug poisoning deaths.

Tampa: Ranks No. 124 with 562 violent crimes; 1,564 property crimes; 13.7 vehicular deaths and 23.7 drug poisoning deaths.

Jacksonville: Ranks No. 178 with 687 violent crimes; 2,689 property crimes; 15.8 vehicular deaths and 42.3 drug poisoning deaths.

Fort Lauderdale: Ranks No. 181 with 627 violent crimes; 4,039 property crimes; 12.6 vehicular deaths and 28.3 drug poisoning deaths.

St. Petersburg: Ranks No. 188 with 693 violent crimes; 2,546 property crimes; 13.1 vehicular deaths and 40.8 drug poisoning deaths.

Orlando: Ranks No. 198 with 826 violent crimes; 3,539 property crimes; 14.7 vehicular deaths and 51.2 drug poisoning deaths.

Data and Methodology

To find the safest cities, SmartAsset compared 200 of the largest U.S. cities across the following metrics:

• Violent crime rate. The number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Data comes from the FBI’s 2021 Uniform Crime Reporting Database; missing crime data was supplemented by NeighborhoodScout.com
• Property crime rate. The number of property crimes per 100,000 residents. Data comes from the FBI’s 2021 Uniform Crime Reporting Database; missing crime data was supplemented by NeighborhoodScout.com
• Vehicular mortality rate. The number of deaths due to traffic accidents per 100,000 residents. Data is from the 2022 County Health Rankings.
• Drug poisoning mortality rate. The number of drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 residents. Data is from the 2022 County Health Rankings.
• Percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking. The percentage of adults who consumed more than four drinks of alcohol for women or five drinks of alcohol for men on a single occasion over a 30-day period, or who engage in heavy drinking, which is defined as drinking more than one drink per day for women or two drinks a day for men on average. Data is from the 2022 County Health Rankings.