Gainesville is a city of 224,300 in Alachua County and the main city of the Gainesville metro area, home to 349,900 · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Gainesville?
Property crime in Gainesville sits near the national middle: an A-, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live. Theft makes up 68% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A-, and vehicle theft grades A-.
A-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 776 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Gainesville as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Gainesville scores 776.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Gainesville, FL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Gainesville, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Gainesville
One part of Gainesville stands out for burglary. Burglaries in Duval-Eagle Eyes Crime Watch & Duckpond, in east Gainesville, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Theft stands out among cities graded A for property crime. For the typical resident of a US city graded A for property crime, the figure is 8.1 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Gainesville has 17.6.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Gainesville, 51% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Gainesville
Low property crime is the norm across Gainesville: 77% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 11% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Gainesville run from A+ to F.
77%12%11%
A or B 77%C 12%D or F 11%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Hazel Heights & Stephen Foster, northClose to the rest of Gainesville on most crimes.A-793
2Highland Court Manor, northeastCar thefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Gainesville.A-785
3Duval-Eagle Eyes Crime Watch & Duckpond, eastCar thefts run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Gainesville.B-606
4University Park-Gainsville & Fifth Avenue, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Gainesville.B-600
Neighborhood areas of Gainesville, ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is property crime going up in Gainesville?
Reported property crime in Gainesville has fallen 24% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 35 to 27 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
GainesvilleUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Gainesville. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Gainesville
Property, US
2016
+6%
+15%
2017
+3%
+12%
2018
+11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-14%
-8%
2021
-32%
-10%
2022
-25%
-6%
2023
-17%
-7%
2024
-24%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Gainesville
CrimeGrade™ estimates Gainesville has about 26 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 10% more than the US as a whole and 39% more than Florida.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Gainesville, about 68% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Gainesville
Gainesville has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Gainesville, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Gainesville and nearby cities
Gainesville has the most property crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Gainesville. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Gainesville is safer than 59% of them.
Transit, empty homes and walkability in Gainesville
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Gainesville apart: it has 15 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 1.1 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Gainesville: D+ (24 of 100).15 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 89% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.8.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 74% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 79% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 56% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 72% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 69% of US city residents
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.84% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 68% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Gainesville
Property crime costs Gainesville about $38 million a year, or $172 per resident and about $432 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$5.4 million
$24
Theft
$20 million
$90
Vehicle theft
$6.3 million
$28
Arson
$320,000
$1
Vandalism
$6.2 million
$27
Total
$38 million
$172
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
