Safest Counties in Florida: 27 Ranked (2026)

Florida has 67 counties. Twenty-seven of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, St. Johns at 77 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Leon at 579, is 7.5 to one. Beside each rate sits what homes there closed at over the last 12 months, from 348,770 closing records Resideline tracked across all 27 counties.

The crime rates here are built from the 14,193,023 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.

We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.

The ranking

A closer look at the 12 safest counties

1. St. Johns County

St. Johns records 77 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Florida counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $475,000, around 128 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Quiet and costly at the same time, which is how most of the safest places on this list look. Local incomes go further here than almost anywhere else on this list, with homes at 4.1 times median household income. Property crime is low too, at 432 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Saint Augustine, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

2. Collier County

At 92 violent offenses per 100,000, Collier sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Homes there closed at a median of $546,456, about 148 percent of the median across this list. Low crime and high prices arrive together here, which is the arrangement buyers assume is universal and is not. Measured against local pay it is one of the harder counties on this list to buy into, at 5.6 times median household income. At $3,800 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. For prices at street level, see Marco Island, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

3. Flagler County

Flagler's violent crime rate is 112 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Florida counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median closed price, $360,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 492 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,900 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Flagler Beach, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

4. Charlotte County

At 120 violent offenses per 100,000, Charlotte sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $299,999, around 81 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. It is also among the cheapest counties on this list, which is the pairing worth noticing: low crime here is not carrying a price premium. A typical home costs 4.1 years of the median household's income, the low end of this list. Asking rents of $1,995 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. For prices at street level, see Punta Gorda, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

5. Sarasota County

Sarasota's violent crime rate is 130 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Florida counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Homes there closed at a median of $394,351, close to the middle of this list. Property offenses run at 765 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Asking rents run about $2,400 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Venice, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

6. Nassau County

Nassau records 134 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Florida counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. A median closing price of $470,000 puts it at roughly 127 percent of the middle figure for this list. Quiet and costly at the same time, which is how most of the safest places on this list look. Median household income is $94,297, roughly 116 percent of the level across this list. Property crime is low too, at 192 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.2 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Fernandina Beach, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

7. Santa Rosa County

Police in Santa Rosa reported 136 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $345,045, sits near the center of the counties measured. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 3.9 times the median household income. Property crime is low too, at 451 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $2,075 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Milton, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

8. Walton County

At 162 violent offenses per 100,000, Walton sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. A median closing price of $717,690 puts it at roughly 194 percent of the middle figure for this list. Measured against local pay it is one of the harder counties on this list to buy into, at 8.6 times median household income. Its property rate is among the lowest here, 532 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $2,700 a month. For prices at street level, see Santa Rosa Beach, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

9. Indian River County

Indian River records 167 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Florida counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $369,889, sits near the center of the counties measured. Its property rate, 800 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $2,250 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Vero Beach, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

10. Martin County

Martin's violent crime rate is 167 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Florida counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Buyers there paid a median of $434,899, some 118 percent of the level across the counties measured. Households there earn a median of $94,583, about 116 percent of the median for these counties. Property offenses run at 700 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $2,500 a month. For prices at street level, see Stuart, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

11. Hillsborough County

At 187 violent offenses per 100,000, Hillsborough sits in the middle range of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median closed price, $380,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Property crime is low, at 626 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.5 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $2,250 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Riverview, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

12. Seminole County

Seminole records 211 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Florida counties measured here. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $389,574, close to the middle of this list. Property offenses run at 988 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $1,995 a month. For prices at street level, see Sanford, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

Does safety set the price in Florida?

Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 31 percent above the highest-crime third on price. The same safe places also earn 22 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.

That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.

That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.

Where safety and affordability overlap in Florida

Five of the 9 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: St. Johns (77 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.1 times median household income); Flagler (112 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.3 times median household income); Charlotte (120 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.1 times median household income); Santa Rosa (136 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.9 times median household income); Indian River (167 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.5 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.

The large counties

Seven counties here have more than 500,000 residents. Their median violent rate is 253 per 100,000 against 189 for the smaller counties on the list, and the quietest of them is Hillsborough at 187. It closes homes at a median of $380,000.

The counties we cannot rank

Set aside after checking the state's own figures:

• •Putnam, with about 77,000 residents: Florida's own 2024 figure (FDLE, 231 per 100,000) is more than twice the FBI-based figure, so this county is set aside until the two sources can be reconciled.

• •Broward, with about 2.04 million residents, reports 38 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Orange, with about 1.53 million residents, reports 70 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Lee, with about 861,000 residents, reports 73 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Brevard, with about 658,000 residents, reports 89 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Volusia, with about 603,000 residents, reports 1 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Osceola, with about 468,000 residents, reports 34 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Manatee, with about 458,000 residents, reports 14 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Lake, with about 444,000 residents, reports 12 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Escambia, with about 331,000 residents, reports 16 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Okaloosa, with about 220,000 residents, reports 25 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
• •Sumter, with about 155,000 residents, reports 89 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.

Reporting to the FBI is voluntary and incomplete. Where a place's agencies cover only part of its population, the rate is built on the part that reported, so it describes those communities rather than the whole area. We publish at 90 percent coverage or better, which is a line we chose rather than a point where the data becomes reliable.

How to read this list

The right way to use this is to narrow the list, then check the address. Averages at this scale hide the variation that actually matters once you are choosing between two houses.

Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.

Sources and related pages

• •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
• •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
• •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
• •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
• •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Florida housing market; Safest counties in Alabama; Safest counties in Georgia.