Is Miami safer than New York City?

Every crime figure here is what each city’s police department reported to the FBI Crime Data Explorer, under the same national definitions, divided by the FBI’s own population estimate for that department’s area: the City of Miami and New York’s five boroughs. Comparisons that mix one city’s FBI numbers with the other’s local reports compare different categories.

• Violent crime: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
• Homicide: murder and non-negligent manslaughter.
• Property crime: burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.

Crimes that go unreported to police aren’t in any of these numbers, in either city.

Homicide counts are small, so they swing: Miami PD reported 32 in 2023 and 29 in 2024; the NYPD 404 and 361. Each homicide moves Miami’s rate by about 0.2 per 100,000.

A few months look under-reported. The site treats a month as a reporting gap only when both of a department’s big series (violent and property crime) drop together; these dips show up in one series only, so the years are shown as reported:

• Miami property crime, January and February 2023: if those months were typical, the year’s rate would be about 8% higher.
• Miami property crime, March 2024: if those months were typical, the year’s rate would be about 4% higher.

These come from other sources, each with its own geography, noted below.

The homelessness counts aren’t like for like: New York’s right-to-shelter rule means about 95% of its homeless population is sheltered, which also makes its count far more complete. The homepage safety section has the rest of the health comparison.