Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2024
Lake Wales, FL Crime Grade
How Lake Wales grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Florida — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
7/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Florida
6/10
vs. Florida cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2024, the violent crime rate in Lake Wales, FL was 243.9 per 100,000 residents (41 incidents over a population of 16,813). That puts Lake Wales 33% below the U.S. rate of 364.7 and 9% below the Florida statewide rate of 267.4.
That ranks Lake Wales #2,345 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 38% of them, and #84 of 163 in Florida. Violent crime is down 39% year over year and down 25% over the last five years.
Lake Wales, FL crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- C (7/10)
- Florida Grade
- C (6/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 243.9 / 100k
- National rank
- #2,345 of 3,771
- FL rank
- #84 of 163
- Safer than
- 38% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 39%
- 5-year change
- down 25%
- Population
- 16,813
- Reporting agency
- Lake Wales Police Department
- Data year
- 2024 · FBI UCR
Reported by Lake Wales Police Department (FBI ORI FL0531300) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Lake Wales (red), Florida (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Lake Wales vs. U.S., 2024 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2019 | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 325.4(55) | 251.8(43) | 601.4(101) | 402.9(68) | 243.9(41) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 41.5(7) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 5.9(1) | 11.7(2) | 53.6(9) | 11.8(2) | 23.8(4) |
| Robbery | 47.3(8) | 29.3(5) | 59.5(10) | 29.6(5) | 17.8(3) |
| Aggravated assault | 272.2(46) | 210.8(36) | 488.3(82) | 319.9(54) | 202.2(34) |
| Property crime | 2124.1(359) | 1470.0(251) | 2578.5(433) | 2358.1(398) | 1528.6(257) |
| Burglary | 319.5(54) | 322.1(55) | 440.7(74) | 272.5(46) | 190.3(32) |
| Larceny | 1627.1(275) | 995.6(170) | 1977.0(332) | 1961.1(331) | 1189.6(200) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 171.6(29) | 152.3(26) | 160.8(27) | 124.4(21) | 148.7(25) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Lake Wales, FL Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Lake Wales Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Lake Wales calculated?
- Lake Wales's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Florida state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Florida cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Lake Wales Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Florida
Comparable Florida cities by population.
Compare Lake Wales to other places
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