Florida's crime rate in nearly all categories has always been higher than the national average. Data for the seven categories of crime identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation are reported on this page. Florida usually ranks among the top five states in all the FBI crime categories except motor vehicle theft. In some years Florida has led the nation in rates of burglary, larceny, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Although the table of crime rates on this page indicates a decline in several categories, it should be remembered that the table compares Florida crime rates with those of the nation. If national crime rates are rising, and they are in several categories, it only shows that Florida's are rising less than those of the nation, but they still remain well above the national averages,
Five Florida metropolitan areas have exceptionally high rates of both violent and nonviolent crime: Greater Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Tallahassee. These communities are quite different from each other: Greater Miami has a large Hispanic population; Gainesville and Tallahassee have many young university students; and Jacksonville has large employment in manufacturing as well as the military. Nonviolent crime is usually high, but violent crime rates are at or below the state average in the Metropolitan Statistical Areas of Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Lakeland, Ocala, and Pensacola. The panhandle generally has much lower crime rates than peninsular counties.
Annual fluctuations in frequently committed crimes, such as burglary, are consistent throughout Florida despite differences in population density and in racial and ethnic composition. For example, when the burglary rate of Greater Miami rises or falls, rates change in the same direction in Jacksonville and Gainesville.
