The Lakeland metro area, the 78th-largest in the US, is home to 790,700 residents · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in the Lakeland area?
Property crime in the Lakeland area is a little lower than in most US neighborhoods: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Theft makes up 60% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A, and vehicle theft grades A+. The city of Lakeland itself grades A for property crime.
A
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 886 of 1,000Less property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than the Lakeland area as a whole, and 36% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Lakeland area scores 886.
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 Lakeland, FL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Lakeland area, 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 the Lakeland area
One part of Lakeland stands out for burglary. Burglaries in Central Avenue, Paul A Diggs & South Lake Morton, in central Lakeland, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Vehicle theft runs low. The Lakeland area has 0.84 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.7.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in the Lakeland area
Every part of the Lakeland area where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across the Lakeland area run from A+ to C.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Lakeland
1Carlton Arms & Hidden Oaks-Lakeland, southwestCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Lakeland.A+925
2Cypress Hills, Highland Fairways & Sleepy Hill Oaks, northwestBurglaries run at about half the rate in the rest of Lakeland.A904
3Sandpiper Golf and Country Club & Villages at Bridgewater, northeastCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Lakeland.A902
4New Jersey Rd, Lake Watkins & Eaglebrooke, southeastBurglaries run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Lakeland.A887
5Webster Park North, Wedgewood Golf and Country Club & Kathleen, northCar thefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Lakeland.A-838
6Cleveland Heights, Southwest Lakeland & Imperial, southCar thefts run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Lakeland.A-832
7Edgewood Park, westBurglaries run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Lakeland.A-830
8Florida Southern College, Lake Bonny & East Lake Morton, eastCar thefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Lakeland.B+760
9Central Avenue, Paul A Diggs & South Lake Morton, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Lakeland.B+698
Neighborhood areas of the city of Lakeland, 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.
Cities and towns in the Lakeland metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Property crime rates and types in the Lakeland area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Lakeland area has about 13 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 47% less than the US as a whole and 32% less 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 the Lakeland area, about 60% 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.
Property crime in the Lakeland area and nearby metro areas
The Lakeland area has less property crime than 9 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Fort Myers area has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Lakeland area. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Lakeland area is safer than 86% of them.
Density, empty homes and night lighting in the Lakeland area
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, one sets the Lakeland area apart: it has 8% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less car theft, and it runs low here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 84% of Americans in metro areas
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.7.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 73% of Americans in metro areas
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.85% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 56% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Lakeland area
Property crime costs the Lakeland area about $68 million a year, or $86 per resident and about $249 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
$11 million
$14
Theft
$31 million
$39
Vehicle theft
$10 million
$13
Arson
$400,000
$1
Vandalism
$15 million
$19
Total
$68 million
$86
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. These figures cover the whole Lakeland metro area. 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
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
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.
