The Murder Capitals Of Florida For 2023


The cities with the most murder in Florida are Riviera Beach and Opa Locka for 2023.

Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Florida?

We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe.

So we wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the FBI crime data in order to identify the places with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita in Florida.

What city has the highest murder rate in Florida? The city with the highest murder rate in Florida is Opa Locka with 72.7 murders per 100,000 people.

What is the city in Florida with highest number of murders? The city in Florida with the highest number of murders is Jacksonville with 140 murders.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Florida ranked. There were ‘only’ 109 cities in Florida where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 98 places had no murder.

For more reading on the Sunshine State check out:

The 10 Murder Capitals Of Florida For 2023

Riviera Beach, FL

Source: Flickr User Vontonio Johns | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 35,798
Rank Last Year: 1
Murders: 16 (10th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 44.7 (3rd Most)
More on Riviera Beach:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Opa Locka, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 16,501
Rank Last Year:
Murders: 12 (14th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 72.7 (Most)
More on Opa Locka:  Data | Cost Of Living

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Andyxox | CC BY 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 184,347
Rank Last Year: 2
Murders: 37 (4th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 20.1 (12th Most)
More on Fort Lauderdale:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Hallandale Beach, FL

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 40,153
Rank Last Year: 3
Murders: 10 (16th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 24.9 (8th Most)
More on Hallandale Beach:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Pompano Beach, FL

Source: Wikipedia User ianaré sévi | GFDL

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 113,545
Rank Last Year: 4
Murders: 19 (7th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 16.7 (18th Most)
More on Pompano Beach:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Daytona Beach, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Gamweb | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 70,084
Rank Last Year: 5
Murders: 14 (13th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 20.0 (13th Most)
More on Daytona Beach:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Jacksonville, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Mathew105601 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 920,508
Rank Last Year: 6
Murders: 140 (Most)
Murders Per 100k: 15.2 (26th Most)
More on Jacksonville:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Miami Gardens, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Pietro | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 110,284
Rank Last Year: 7
Murders: 18 (8th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 16.3 (19th Most)
More on Miami Gardens:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Palatka, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

1
/10

Population: 10,436
Rank Last Year: 8
Murders: 6 (27th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 57.5 (2nd Most)
More on Palatka:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Dania Beach, FL

Source: Wikipedia User Lander Eizagirre | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 32,557
Rank Last Year: 9
Murders: 8 (2Most)
Murders Per 100k: 24.6 (9th Most)
More on Dania Beach:  Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Florida

While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI’s last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report which summarizes the number of murders that may happen in each city per year.

We only looked every single city in Florida for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 109 cities to rank.

Finally, we averaged the two scores into an index:

  • The raw number of murders in each city
  • The murders per person

We felt as if a small place with 2,500 people and two murders makes it a lot more dangerous than a city of 25,000 people with three murders. Any ties went to the larger city.

This article is an opinion based on facts. It is our tenth time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Florida and is updated for 2023.

Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Florida For 2023

If you’re looking at the places in Florida with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve.

For more Florida reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Places With The Most Murder In Florida For 2023

Rank City Murders Murders/100K
1 Riviera Beach, FL 16 44.7
2 Opa Locka, FL 12 72.72
3 Fort Lauderdale, FL 37 20.07
4 Hallandale Beach, FL 10 24.9
5 Pompano Beach, FL 19 16.73
6 Daytona Beach, FL 14 19.98
7 Jacksonville, FL 140 15.21
8 Miami Gardens, FL 18 16.32
9 Palatka, FL 6 57.49
10 Dania Beach, FL 8 24.57
11 West Palm Beach, FL 18 15.89
12 Miami, FL 61 12.81
13 North Miami Beach, FL 8 18.49
14 Lauderdale Lakes, FL 7 19.13
15 Tallahassee, FL 24 12.24
16 Belle Glade, FL 5 24.56
17 Orlando, FL 31 10.57
18 Tampa, FL 41 10.07
19 Fort Pierce, FL 7 15.03
20 Hollywood, FL 16 10.23
21 North Lauderdale, FL 6 13.45
22 Lakeland, FL 12 10.54
23 Boynton Beach, FL 9 11.26
24 Sebring, FL 3 28.13
25 Florida City, FL 3 25.37
26 Crestview, FL 4 15.51
27 Mount Dora, FL 3 20.27
28 Fort Myers, FL 9 9.96
29 West Park, FL 3 19.73
30 Maitland, FL 3 16.79
31 Melbourne, FL 8 9.55
32 Lauderhill, FL 7 9.67
33 Titusville, FL 5 10.66
34 Starke, FL 2 36.93
35 Cocoa, FL 3 15.98
36 Perry, FL 2 29.13
37 Panama City, FL 4 11.54
38 Gainesville, FL 10 7.4
39 Pensacola, FL 5 9.42
40 St. Petersburg, FL 15 5.6
41 Lake City, FL 2 16.13
42 Panama City Beach, FL 2 15.74
43 Winter Haven, FL 4 8.64
44 Lantana, FL 2 15.59
45 Delray Beach, FL 5 7.09
46 Palmetto, FL 2 14.42
47 Rockledge, FL 3 10.48
48 Miami Beach, FL 5 5.62
49 Bradenton, FL 4 6.59
50 North Miami, FL 4 6.34
51 Hialeah, FL 7 2.99
52 Kissimmee, FL 4 5.38
53 Lake Worth, FL 3 7.7
54 Plant City, FL 3 7.44
55 Largo, FL 4 4.67
56 Oakland Park, FL 3 6.57
57 Quincy, FL 1 14.0
58 Winter Garden, FL 3 6.32
59 Fort Walton Beach, FL 2 8.74
60 Dade City, FL 1 13.43
61 Port St. Lucie, FL 5 2.42
62 Wildwood, FL 1 13.21
63 Jacksonville Beach, FL 2 8.37
64 Clewiston, FL 1 12.31
65 Miramar, FL 4 2.79
66 Leesburg, FL 2 8.31
67 Ocala, FL 3 4.9
68 Arcadia, FL 1 11.92
69 Sanford, FL 3 4.81
70 Springfield, FL 1 11.71
71 Haines City, FL 2 7.49
72 Lake Park, FL 1 11.61
73 Green Cove Springs, FL 1 11.39
74 Tamarac, FL 3 4.45
75 Homestead, FL 3 4.25
76 Pembroke Pines, FL 4 2.28
77 North Port, FL 3 4.14
78 Deerfield Beach, FL 3 3.67
79 Plantation, FL 3 3.14
80 Sunrise, FL 3 3.11
81 Miami Shores, FL 1 9.65
82 Palm Bay, FL 3 2.57
83 Milton, FL 1 9.32
84 Altamonte Springs, FL 2 4.5
85 Cocoa Beach, FL 1 8.5
86 Holly Hill, FL 1 8.04
87 Atlantic Beach, FL 1 7.14
88 Oldsmar, FL 1 6.57
89 Tavares, FL 1 5.49
90 Boca Raton, FL 2 1.97
91 Davie, FL 2 1.85
92 Naples, FL 1 4.47
93 Key West, FL 1 4.16
94 Winter Park, FL 1 3.21
95 DeLand, FL 1 2.79
96 Royal Palm Beach, FL 1 2.43
97 Greenacres City, FL 1 2.41
98 Oviedo, FL 1 2.33
99 Ormond Beach, FL 1 2.26
100 Ocoee, FL 1 2.0
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

One thought on “The Murder Capitals Of Florida For 2023

  1. Like your info . I only like to visit Florida cocoa beach Lauderdale by the sea, Tampa . A lot of dangerous places too. I am a cautious US NAVY VETERAN, THANKS!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *