Crime in Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice: What Five Years of Data Really Shows

By OurTownSarasota

Crime is one of those subjects where perception and statistics can tell very different stories. A serious crime can dominate local news and social media for days, while hundreds of other crimes may never receive public attention. Conversely, a decline in reported offenses can make a community appear dramatically safer even though residents may still be concerned about particular types of crime.

So what does the data show in Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice?

Looking at the most consistently comparable federal and local data from roughly 2020 through 2024, supplemented by Sarasota’s official 2025 police results, a clear pattern emerges: crime surged or remained elevated during the pandemic era, then generally moved downward. But the three cities have very different crime profiles.

Sarasota has historically had a higher violent-crime rate than the national average, while Bradenton has also been above the national violent-crime benchmark. Venice stands apart, with substantially lower levels of violent crime. Property crime, meanwhile, is a much larger issue in all three communities than the raw number of violent offenses might suggest.

The national picture: crime has been falling

The national backdrop is important because local crime cannot be viewed in isolation.

According to FBI data, the U.S. violent-crime rate was approximately 392.3 offenses per 100,000 residents in 2020, compared with 359.1 in 2024. The national property-crime rate fell from approximately 1,946.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 1,760.1 in 2024.

The decline accelerated in 2024. The FBI reported that violent crime fell an estimated 4.5%, including a 14.9% decline in murder and non-negligent manslaughter. Robbery fell 8.9%, rape declined 5.2%, and aggravated assault declined 3.0%.

Property crime also dropped sharply, falling about 8.1% nationally in 2024.

That means the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice region has been experiencing a broad national phenomenon rather than an isolated local change.

Sarasota: a substantial decline after elevated crime levels

Sarasota presents perhaps the most interesting five-year story of the three cities.

The city’s police department reported three consecutive years of declining overall crime: 16.2% in 2023, 21.8% in 2024 and another 18% in 2025. The department describes this as a sustained, multi-year reduction in crime.

The 2024 reduction was particularly significant. Sarasota Police reported a 21.8% decrease in total index offenses compared with 2023, following the 16.2% reduction the previous year.

But Sarasota’s per-capita numbers still deserve attention.

FBI-derived 2024 data show 321 violent crimes, including:

7 murders
23 rapes
50 robberies
241 aggravated assaults

The city’s 2024 violent-crime rate was approximately 549.4 per 100,000 residents, compared with a national rate of 359.1. That puts Sarasota’s reported violent-crime rate about 53% above the national figure.

Sarasota recorded 944 property crimes in 2024, producing a property-crime rate of approximately 1,615.6 per 100,000—actually below the 2024 national property-crime rate of 1,760.1.

That distinction is important.

Sarasota’s biggest statistical concern is not property crime compared with the nation; it is violent crime.

And even there, the direction has been strongly positive.

The city’s 2025 review reported declines in virtually every major category, including a 71.4% decrease in homicide, 33.3% decrease in robbery and 33.5% decrease in aggravated assault compared with 2024. Burglary fell 13.4%, motor-vehicle theft 4.5%, and forcible sex crimes 9.1%.

That is a dramatic change from the crime picture several years earlier.

Bradenton: higher violent-crime rate, but significant improvement

Bradenton’s crime picture is different from Sarasota’s but follows a similar broad trajectory.

FBI-derived data show that Bradenton recorded 258 violent crimes in 2024, including four murders, 23 rapes, 30 robberies and 201 aggravated assaults.

The 2024 violent-crime rate was approximately 448.7 per 100,000 residents.

That is about 25% higher than the 2024 national rate of 359.1.

But the direction of change is encouraging.

Bradenton’s violent-crime rate fell from approximately 608.2 per 100,000 in 2023 to 448.7 in 2024, a decline of roughly 26%.

Property crime also declined over the longer period.

Bradenton recorded:

Year	Violent-crime rate	Property-crime rate
2020	504.2	2,178.4
2022	452.8	1,811.2
2023	608.2	1,883.8
2024	448.7	1,866.0

The figures show an important characteristic of Bradenton: crime has been volatile rather than moving steadily downward every year. Violent crime increased substantially in 2023 before falling sharply in 2024. Property crime, however, has remained much closer to a long-term downward trajectory from its 2020 level.

In 2024, Bradenton recorded 1,073 property crimes, consisting primarily of larceny/theft. There were 920 larceny-theft offenses, compared with 114 burglaries and 39 motor-vehicle thefts.

This illustrates a recurring pattern throughout the region: the average resident is considerably more likely to encounter a theft or other property offense than a violent crime.

Bradenton is also investing heavily in its police infrastructure. The city began construction of a new $35 million police headquarters in 2025, including a Real Time Crime Center and updated crime-investigation technology.

Venice: the outlier in the region

Venice stands out dramatically when violent crime is compared with Sarasota and Bradenton.

FDLE’s 2020 municipal data recorded just 16 violent crimes in Venice, including no murders, two rapes, five robberies and nine aggravated assaults. The total crime index was 362 offenses, producing a crime rate of about 1,507 per 100,000 residents.

FBI-derived data put Venice’s 2020 violent-crime rate at only 65.7 per 100,000, with a property-crime rate of approximately 1,420 per 100,000.

More recent analyses continue to place Venice substantially below national violent-crime levels. One 2025 analysis using FBI-related data reported a violent-crime rate of approximately 122 per 100,000, compared with a national rate of roughly 364 at the time of that analysis.

Venice’s crime profile is therefore fundamentally different from Sarasota and Bradenton.

Violent crime is relatively uncommon. Property crime is the bigger issue.

That does not mean Venice is crime-free. Theft, burglary and vehicle-related offenses remain the principal concerns, particularly in commercial and tourist-oriented areas. But when violent crime is measured per capita, Venice has historically been one of the safer communities in the region.