Lake Helen, FL carries a PlainCrime A safety grade with violent crime 34% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Lake Helen, FL shows violent crime at 232.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 166.4 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 34% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade A from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
A safety grade
232.9/100K violent
166.4/100K property
-34% vs U.S.
The verdict
Lake Helen earns an A safety grade: violent crime runs 34% below the U.S. average, placing it higher-crime than most U.S. cities.
A
PlainCrime safety grade
-34%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
39th
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
166.4
property crimes per 100K
Based on 7 reported violent incidents in a population of 3,005. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Lake Helen, FL
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 58.3% of the 12 Part I offenses reported in Lake Helen for 2024, against a median of 13.3% across comparable Florida cities — a gap of 45.1 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Lake Helen reported 7 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 3,005. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
Property-offense composition
Burglary and vehicle theft carry more of the property total than they do across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 40.0% of reported property offenses in Lake Helen, against a cohort median of 81.8%. The remainder is burglary (3) and motor vehicle theft (0). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Comparable rate records
Lake Helen's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Florida cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Lake Helen's 232.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Pinellas Park (233.7), Winter Haven (235.5), Tarpon Springs (237.4), Longwood (242.8). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 283.5 per 100,000 in 2020 to 232.9 in 2024 (-17.8%). The highest observed value was 283.5 in 2020 and the lowest 0.0 in 2021. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
Lake Helen sits mid-pack among comparable Florida cities
At 232.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Lake Helen ranks 58 of 126 — above 68 of the 125 other Florida cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +20.9% against the cohort median of 192.7. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Violent counts are the sharper signal on Lake Helen's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; incomplete reporters stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Based on 7 reported violent incidents in a population of 3,005. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
Small-city offense counts above are voluntary UCR submissions, not neighbourhood advice. Year-to-year swings can look large when the population base is modest.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+129.9%
101.3 → 232.9/100K
Property Crime Rate
-55.2%
371.5 → 166.4/100K
Violent offenses lead Lake Helen's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Violent Crime
7
232.9
352
Aggravated Assault
7
232.9
-
Murder
0
0
-
Rape
0
0
-
Robbery
0
0
-
Property Crime
5
166.4
1711
Burglary
3
99.8
-
Larceny-Theft
2
66.6
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
0
0
-
Arson
0
0
-
Lake Helen Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
Lake Helen violent crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
232.9/100K↑129.9%vs 2023
Lake Helen property crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
166.4/100K↓55.2%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
2,822
283.5
531.5
23
2021
Insufficient reporting
2,846
-
-
-
2022
Comparable
2,867
209.3
523.2
21
2023
Comparable
2,961
101.3
371.5
14
2024
Comparable
3,005
232.9
166.4
12
How Lake Helen sits among FL peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
Lake Helen Police Department Summary Reporting (SRS)
Lake Helen's crime figures on this page originate from Lake Helen Police Department's submission to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
This agency reports via the traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS): aggregate monthly offense counts rather than incident-level detail.
Similar-Size Cities in Florida
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Florida cities closest to Lake Helen in population. Their populations run from 2,275 to 3,629, against 3,005 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These Florida cities report the closest violent-crime rates to Lake Helen's 232.9/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
Lake Helen has a violent crime rate of 232.9 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 166.4 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is Lake Helen, FL safe? ▼
Lake Helen receives a safety grade of A (Safe), with a safety score of 75/100. The violent crime rate is 34% below the national average and 11% above the Florida average.
What is the population of Lake Helen, FL? ▼
The reporting population for Lake Helen is 3,005 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in Lake Helen? ▼
In 2024, Lake Helen reported 7 violent crimes and 5 property crimes, for a total of 12 reported offenses.
How do Lake Helen's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, Lake Helen recorded about one reported offense per 250 residents and one reported violent offense per 429 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Lake Helen? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, Lake Helen's violent crime rate increased by 129.9%, and the property crime rate decreased by 55.2%.
What is the most common crime in Lake Helen? ▼
The most common crime type in Lake Helen is aggravated assault, accounting for 58.3% of all reported crimes (7 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Lake Helen is sourced from FBI UCR Table 8 for 2024; rates use that row's population.
Small-city rows use the same per-100,000 formula; a few unreported years can leave gaps in the trend table. Verify the agency's submission on FBI.gov UCR.
Disclaimer (small city): UCR counts here are informational only. They are not a victimization probability. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Lake Helen, FL rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.