The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lakeland, TN
Lakeland is a city of 13,400 in Shelby County, about 19 miles east of downtown Memphis · Updated November 2026
Is Lakeland, TN safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Lakeland is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Lakeland sits near the middle: 50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lakeland run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 838 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lakeland as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lakeland scores 838.
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 Lakeland, TN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lakeland, 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 Lakeland
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Lakeland, 80% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Lakeland
Every part of Lakeland where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Lakeland run from A+ to B; 45% 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 Lakeland, the northwest side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Lakeland?
Reported violent crime in Lakeland peaked in 2020 and has fallen 22% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 8% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.0 to 2.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 16 to 14 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
LakelandUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Lakeland. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Lakeland
Violent, US
Property, Lakeland
Property, US
2016
+5%
+4%
+0%
+15%
2017
+2%
+4%
+9%
+12%
2018
+23%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+22%
+4%
-4%
-8%
2021
+7%
+6%
-8%
-10%
2022
+7%
+5%
-12%
-6%
2023
-6%
+2%
-4%
-7%
2024
-5%
-4%
-8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lakeland
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lakeland has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% less than the US as a whole and 45% less than Tennessee.
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 Lakeland is assault, about 42% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Lakeland
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office polices Lakeland, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Lakeland, 77% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 67% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (77%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (80%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (67%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Homes (34%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (64%)
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 Lakeland compares with nearby cities
Lakeland has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities. Oakland and Eads have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Lakeland apart: it has 2.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of F (3 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, and vandalism runs low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 96% 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. 100% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (3 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 95% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.4.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 95% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.14 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 94% 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.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 75% of US city residents
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 74% 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 Lakeland
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Lakeland about $849 a year per household, 30% 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 $11 million a year, or $811 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$430,000
$32
Rape
$170,000
$13
Robbery
$56,000
$4
Assault
$1.7 million
$123
Burglary
$180,000
$14
Theft
$570,000
$42
Vehicle theft
$620,000
$46
Arson
$17,000
$1
Vandalism
$190,000
$14
Total
$3.9 million
$289
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 Lakeland 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. Lakeland is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Lakeland, TN average a SchoolGrade of A+: 58% of students test proficient, against 53% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Lakeland on SchoolGrade
