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 violent crime in Gainesville?
Violent crime in Gainesville runs higher than in most US neighborhoods: a B+, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 69% of Americans live. Assaults make up 89% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 749 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
31% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Gainesville as a whole, and 69% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Gainesville scores 749.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid 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 violent crime in Gainesville
One part of Gainesville stands out for aggravated assault. Aggravated assaults in Duval-Eagle Eyes Crime Watch & Duckpond, in east Gainesville, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Gainesville
Low violent crime is the norm across Gainesville: 77% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 9% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Gainesville run from A+ to F.
77%14%
A or B 77%C 14%D or F 9%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Hazel Heights & Stephen Foster, northClose to the rest of Gainesville on most crimes.B+746
2University Park-Gainsville & Fifth Avenue, centralRobberies run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Gainesville.B+713
3Highland Court Manor, northeastAggravated assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Gainesville.B689
4Duval-Eagle Eyes Crime Watch & Duckpond, eastRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Gainesville.C-333
Neighborhood areas of Gainesville, ranked by violent 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 violent crime going up in Gainesville?
Reported violent crime in Gainesville has held about steady since 2019, within 5%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.9 to 7.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent 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
2016
-4%
+4%
2017
+4%
+4%
2018
+7%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
2021
+4%
+6%
2022
+12%
+5%
2023
+7%
+2%
2024
+5%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Gainesville
CrimeGrade™ estimates Gainesville has about 14 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 6% more than the US as a whole and 21% more than Florida.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Gainesville, about 89% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Gainesville
Gainesville has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Gainesville, 48% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at homes: 27% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
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.
Violent crime in Gainesville and nearby cities
Gainesville has the most violent crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Gainesville. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Gainesville has more violent crime than 57% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets Gainesville apart: it has 15 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Gainesville: D+ (24 of 100).15 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 89% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 69% 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 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 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 66% 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 violent crime costs Gainesville
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Gainesville about $330 million a year, or $1,472 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $71 million, or $316 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 79% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$16 million
$73
Rape
$8.4 million
$37
Robbery
$6.4 million
$29
Assault
$40 million
$177
Total
$71 million
$316
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
