Lake Wales, FL is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 31% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Lake Wales, FL shows violent crime at 243.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,528.6 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 31% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade B from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
B safety grade
243.9/100K violent
1528.6/100K property
-31% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Lake Wales, FL
Comparable rate records
Lake Wales's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Florida cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Lake Wales's 243.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Greenacres City (244.7), Longwood (242.8), Tarpon Springs (237.4), Winter Haven (235.5). 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.
Position in the state cohort
Lake Wales sits mid-pack among comparable Florida cities
At 243.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Lake Wales ranks 53 of 126 — above 73 of the 125 other Florida cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +26.5% 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 251.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 243.9 in 2024 (-3.2%). The highest observed value was 601.4 in 2022 and the lowest 243.9 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Lake Wales's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
Lake Wales's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 20.3 Census sq mi, Lake Wales logged 12.7 property and 2 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Lake Wales's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (67% of 298 offenses; mix index 4,823).
Violent offenses are only 14% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (20.3 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Both rates shifted (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-39.5%
402.9 → 243.9/100K
Property Crime Rate
-35.2%
2358.1 → 1528.6/100K
Property offenses lead Lake Wales's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs FL
Property Crime
257
1528.6
1030
Larceny-Theft
200
1189.6
-
Burglary
32
190.3
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
25
148.7
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
41
243.9
210.3
Aggravated Assault
34
202.2
-
Rape
4
23.8
-
Robbery
3
17.8
-
Murder
0
0
-
Lake Wales 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 Wales property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averagesRead the chart as a list
Lake Wales: 244 violent, 1529 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Belle Glade: 1327 violent, 2660 property per 100,000 (grade F)
Safety Harbor: 130 violent, 691 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Lake Mary: 138 violent, 1038 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Marco Island: 61 violent, 410 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Longwood: 243 violent, 1364 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Davenport: 75 violent, 344 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Vero Beach: 45 violent, 272 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Village of Pinecrest: 95 violent, 1748 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Lake Wales Police Department
Reporting agency for Lake Wales Summary Reporting (SRS)
Lake Wales Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Lake Wales's 298 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
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 Wales in population. Their populations run from 16,362 to 17,963, against 16,813 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Lake Wales at 243.9/100K violent and 1,528.6/100K property - matched below outside Florida (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Lake Wales reported 41 violent crimes and 257 property crimes, for a total of 298 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Lake Wales?
From 2023 to 2024, Lake Wales's violent crime rate decreased by 39.5%, and the property crime rate decreased by 35.2%.
What is the most common crime in Lake Wales?
The most common crime type in Lake Wales is larceny-theft, accounting for 67.1% of all reported crimes (200 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Lake Wales figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Lake Wales, FL rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.