South Padre Island, TX carries a PlainCrime F safety grade with violent crime 306% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, South Padre Island, TX shows violent crime at 1,428.6 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 11,822.7 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 306% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
1428.6/100K violent
11822.7/100K property
+306% vs U.S.
The verdict
South Padre Island earns an F safety grade: violent crime runs 306% above the U.S. average, placing it among the highest-crime cities in the country.
F
PlainCrime safety grade
+306%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
1st
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
11,822.7
property crimes per 100K
Based on 29 reported violent incidents in a population of 2,030. 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 South Padre Island, TX
Position in the state cohort
South Padre Island reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Texas cities
At 1428.6 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, South Padre Island ranks 3 of 686 — above 683 of the 685 other Texas cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +698.3% against the cohort median of 178.9. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
South Padre Island reported 29 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 2,030. 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.
Comparable rate records
South Padre Island's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Texas cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to South Padre Island's 1428.6 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Gonzales (1395.2), Houston (1148.2), Beaumont (1137.3), Balcones Heights (1722.2). 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.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 10.8% of the 269 Part I offenses reported in South Padre Island for 2024, against a median of 14.4% across comparable Texas cities — a gap of 3.6 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 1551.2 per 100,000 in 2020 to 1428.6 in 2024 (-7.9%). The highest observed value was 2077.3 in 2021 and the lowest 1428.6 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate South Padre Island'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.
Based on 29 reported violent incidents in a population of 2,030. 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.
On a small municipal row, small denominators make rates sensitive to a handful of incidents. Figures are reported totals, not neighbourhood advice.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-26.9%
1953.1 → 1428.6/100K
Property Crime Rate
-12%
13427.7 → 11822.7/100K
Property offenses lead South Padre Island's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs TX
Property Crime
240
11822.7
1711
2058.2
Larceny-Theft
176
8670
-
-
Burglary
33
1625.6
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
31
1527.1
-
-
Arson
0
0
-
-
Violent Crime
29
1428.6
352
394.7
Aggravated Assault
14
689.7
-
-
Rape
13
640.4
-
-
Robbery
2
98.5
-
-
Murder
0
0
-
-
South Padre Island Crime Trend (2020-2024)
South Padre Island property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
11,822.7/100K↓12%vs 2023
South Padre Island violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
1,428.6/100K↓26.9%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
2,772
1551.2
13347.8
413
2021
Comparable
2,744
2077.3
11661.8
377
2022
Comparable
2,048
1611.3
14062.5
321
2023
Comparable
2,048
1953.1
13427.7
315
2024
Comparable
2,030
1428.6
11822.7
269
How South Padre Island sits among TX peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
South Padre Island Police Department NIBRS-participating
South Padre Island's crime figures on this page originate from South Padre Island Police Department's submission to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in Texas
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Texas cities closest to South Padre Island in population. Their populations run from 2,017 to 2,076, against 2,030 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These Texas cities report the closest violent-crime rates to South Padre Island's 1,428.6/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
What is the crime rate in South Padre Island, TX? ▼
South Padre Island has a violent crime rate of 1428.6 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 11822.7 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is South Padre Island, TX safe? ▼
South Padre Island receives a safety grade of F (High Risk), with a safety score of 0/100. The violent crime rate is 306% above the national average and 262% above the Texas average.
What is the population of South Padre Island, TX? ▼
The reporting population for South Padre Island is 2,030 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in South Padre Island? ▼
In 2024, South Padre Island reported 29 violent crimes and 240 property crimes, for a total of 269 reported offenses.
How do South Padre Island's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, South Padre Island recorded about one reported offense per 8 residents and one reported violent offense per 70 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in South Padre Island? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, South Padre Island's violent crime rate decreased by 26.9%, and the property crime rate decreased by 12%.
What is the most common crime in South Padre Island? ▼
The most common crime type in South Padre Island is larceny-theft, accounting for 65.4% of all reported crimes (176 incidents in 2024).
Micro-municipal read: South Padre Island's FBI UCR Table 8 row (2024) is the only source for the rates above.
With a small population base, per-100,000 rates amplify sparse counts. Incomplete submissions are excluded from rankings. See FBI.gov UCR for the raw Table 8 file.
Disclaimer (small municipal): small-base rates are especially easy to misread. Informational only - not advice. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 South Padre Island, TX rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.