South Florida Fills Out Most of FBI’s List of Top 10 Deadliest Cities in the State for 2021 | South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers Whittel & Melton

September 2, 2021

Every year the FBI releases new data that ranks the top deadliest states in the country. In 2021, Florida took the 17^th spot, and that means that there are numerous cities, most of them in South Florida, that have an extremely high crime rating. In fact, some of these cities’ crime ratings are much higher than the national average. The FBI takes into account murder, property crimes, violent crimes, and more when making their selections. The data is then compiled into a list of the top 10 most dangerous cities.

Below are the most dangerous cities in Florida for 2021:

1. Florida City: This city is located in Miami-Dade County and is named the most dangerous city for 2021. FBI data found that violent crimes in this Miami suburb are at 2,619, almost 7 times higher than the national average of 366.
2. Lake City: Lake City is in Columbia County, Florida sandwiched between Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Gainesville and located near the intersection of I-10 and I-75. The population in Lake City is around 13,000, and due to the city’s high volume of property crimes and theft – 6,432 to be exact while the national average is 2,109 – it takes the #2 spot yet again for 2021.
3. Opa Locka: Opa Locka, Florida is a small city the northeastern area of Miami-Dade County. While it is only 4.2 square miles, the city sees a very high number of robberies, thefts, and violent crimes making this South Florida city number 3 on the most dangerous cities in Florida.
4. Lake Park: Lake Park, FL is a town in Palm Beach County that has fewer than 10,000 residents. However, the town has very high crimes involving theft and violence that are nearly four times the national average.
5. Panama City Beach: Panama City Beach, known as PCB, is a waterfront town and very popular Spring Break destination in northwest Florida. PCB’s property crimes are extremely high, which is why this city made the list. The property crime rate here 6,347 per 100k, and the state average is 2,145.
6. Miami Beach: Miami Beach is a south Florida island city and a huge travel and tourism spot, so property and theft crimes are high here. In fact, the theft rate in Miami Beach is almost four times higher than the national average.
7. Perry: Perry, Florida is located in Taylor County and a new city to make the 2021 most dangerous cities in Florida list. However, the number of thefts and property crimes in Perry is 108.94 percent higher than the national average.
8. Daytona Beach: Daytona Beach is a very popular vacation destination on Florida’s Atlantic coast. Daytona Beach is known for its International Speedway, which hosts the Daytona 500 NASCAR race every February. The high number of violent crimes in Daytona Beach (1,137 per 100k) make this hotspot number 8 on the list.
9. Cocoa: Cocoa is located in Brevard County and has less than 20,000 residents, but its crime rate in 2021 reached 139.59 percent above the national average. FBI data also shows that the crime rate for theft in Cocoa is almost triple the national average and the number of property crimes is double the national average.
10. Riviera Beach: Riviera Beach is in Palm Beach County and is known as the “Gateway to the Caribbean.” This city takes the 10^th spot for 2021’s most dangerous Florida cities list because the crime rate per 100k is 5,158, which is 108.26 percent higher than the national average.

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