As communities in Florida continue to grow and populations increase, one of the first concerns that people have is that of public safety. Transportation challenges, growth and development management, and overall crime rates are often the topic of discussion when looking at a community’s growth. Our local law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to ensure that our community is safe for families and individuals as they live, work and play in Osceola County.

Recently Safewise, a company that tests and compares home security companies, home safety products, and home automation devices posted a list of what they assess as the 50 safest cities in Florida, and St. Cloud came in at number 32. Kissimmee was in the top 100, coming in at number 89.

All 50 cities on the list limited violent crime to fewer than 2.5 incidents per 1,000 people, which is nearly half the national violent crime rate of 4.49. Florida actually exceeded the national rate, with 4.81 incidents per 1,000 people, so kudos to the top 50 safest cities in Florida, and St. Cloud and Kissimmee specifically for achieving successful safety statistics.

Among the cities recognized, 78% reported less than 90 total violent crimes, and 58% had no counts of murder in 2017. Since the most recent FBI data available is from 2017, these numbers don’t take into account the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which is the sixth safest city on Safewise’s list.

In regard to property crime, the state of Florida’s rate is 31.88, which is higher than the national rate of 27.11, but only 14% of the cities on the list had rates higher than the national average.

Key Biscayne, with a population of only 13.127 and a median income of $128,563 according to Safewise, came in as Florida’s safest city, while Deland closed out the top 100 safest cities with its population of 32,406 and overall violent crime rate of  5.68 per thousand people.

Positively Osceola is a strong advocate for our local law enforcement agencies and we do everything we can do highlight all the positives that the Kissimmee Police Department, St. Cloud Police Department, and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office do for our community. We encourage the community in joining us in supporting the amazing men and women of these agencies that keep our community safe, prosperous and an amazing place to call home. We can never thank them enough!