The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Gainesville, FL
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
Is Gainesville, FL safe?
Crime in Gainesville is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Gainesville. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Gainesville run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 759 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
37% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Gainesville as a whole, and 63% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Gainesville scores 759.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 in Gainesville
Aggravated assaults run high in Duval-Eagle Eyes Crime Watch & Duckpond. In this part of east Gainesville, they run at about triple the rate in the rest of Gainesville.
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.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Gainesville
Low crime is the norm across Gainesville: 72% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 8% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Gainesville run from A+ to F; 42% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
72%20%
A or B 72%C 20%D or F 8%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Hazel Heights & Stephen Foster, northClose to the rest of Gainesville on most crimes.B+764
2Highland Court Manor, northeastAggravated assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Gainesville.B+725
3University Park-Gainsville & Fifth Avenue, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Gainesville.B671
4Duval-Eagle Eyes Crime Watch & Duckpond, eastBurglaries run at more than double the rate in the rest of Gainesville.C434
Neighborhood areas of Gainesville, ranked by overall 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 crime going up in Gainesville?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Gainesville is down 24%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.9 to 7.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 35 to 27 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
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
Violent, Gainesville
Violent, US
Property, Gainesville
Property, US
2016
-4%
+4%
+6%
+15%
2017
+4%
+4%
+3%
+12%
2018
+7%
+0%
+11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
-14%
-8%
2021
+4%
+6%
-32%
-10%
2022
+12%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
+7%
+2%
-17%
-7%
2024
+5%
-4%
-24%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Gainesville
CrimeGrade™ estimates Gainesville has about 40 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 8% more than the US as a whole and 32% more than Florida.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft is the most common crime in Gainesville, about 44% of everything reported, but aggravated assault costs more, because each one does far more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. 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 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. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 53% of them, against 31% 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)
Robbery
Homes (27%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
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.
How Gainesville compares with nearby cities
Gainesville has the most crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Transit, empty homes and walkability in Gainesville
Two things 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 robbery, and they run high here.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. 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 and assault. 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 robbery and 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 crime costs Gainesville
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Gainesville about $1,227 a year per household, about the same as the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $109 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $369 million a year, or $1,646 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$16 million
$73
Rape
$8.4 million
$37
Robbery
$6.4 million
$29
Aggravated assault
$26 million
$114
Simple assault
$14 million
$63
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
$109 million
$487
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Gainesville means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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.
Schools in Gainesville, FL average a SchoolGrade of D+: 47% of students test proficient, against 41% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Gainesville on SchoolGrade
