The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Key West, FL
Key West is a city of 35,200 in Monroe County · Updated November 2026
Is Key West, FL safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Key West is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Key West sits near the middle: 48% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 52% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Key West run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 828 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
48% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Key West as a whole, and 52% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Key West scores 828.
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 Key West, FL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Key West, 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 Key West
Simple assault stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 6.0 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Key West has 13.4.
The safest and least safe parts of Key West
Every part of Key West where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Key West run from A+ to B+; 49% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Key West, the northeast side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Key West?
Reported crime in Key West has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 14% and property crime down 28%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.0 to 3.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 31 to 22 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Key WestUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Key West. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Key West
Violent, US
Property, Key West
Property, US
2016
+1%
+4%
+30%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
+6%
+12%
2018
+3%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+1%
+4%
-44%
-8%
2021
+1%
+6%
-44%
-10%
2022
+22%
+5%
-23%
-6%
2023
-11%
+2%
-31%
-7%
2024
-14%
-4%
-28%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Key West
CrimeGrade™ estimates Key West has about 40 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 7% more than the US as a whole and 30% 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Key West is assault, about 40% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
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.
How Key West compares with nearby cities
Key West has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Two things set Key West apart: it has 32.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 12.6% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.32.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% 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.12.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 93% 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.C+ (48 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 91% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.45% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 81% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.59 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 74% of US city residents
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 Key West: D- (8 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 67% 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 Key West
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Key West about $916 a year per household, 24% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $38 million a year, or $1,093 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.5 million
$42
Rape
$840,000
$24
Robbery
$390,000
$11
Assault
$5.9 million
$168
Burglary
$520,000
$15
Theft
$2.8 million
$78
Vehicle theft
$860,000
$24
Arson
$39,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$32
Total
$14 million
$395
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 Key West 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
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.
Schools in Key West, FL average a SchoolGrade of C-: 52% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Key West on SchoolGrade
