Situated Between West Palm Beach And Boca Raton Is A Coastal Florida City With A Controversial Reputation

Savvy travelers will tell you to always, always check the safety of wherever you're traveling. Even if you're traveling to a super-safe country or city, you should follow every common sense precaution: Don't flash money, keep wallets and phones in your front pockets, don't face your back to crowds or passersby, and so on. This advice can apply when visiting destinations like Boynton Beach, Florida, located along Florida's Southeastern coast about midway between West Palm Beach and Boca Raton. 

In pictures, Boynton Beach, home to 83,000 people, looks like any other Floridian coastal town, full of palm tree-lined streets and upscale homes — and in many cases, it is. At a glance, it could even be mistaken for a sandy and beautiful beach town like Huntington Beach in Orange County, California. But just like many other large cities, Boynton Beach faces its challenges. In comparison to 40 other U.S. cities in 2024, Boynton Beach saw higher-than-average rates of shoplifting, drug violations, and thefts from homes (via the Council on Criminal Justice and the Boynton Beach Police Department, respectively). 

Still, visitors can travel to Boynton Beach, enjoy themselves, and stay safe. In fact, while some residents say Boynton Beach has "lots of crime," as mentioned on this July 2023 Facebook post, others praise its small-town feel. The town has a lot to offer, from its beachside Oceanfront Park and the cityside Boynton Beach Mall, as well as its nature preserves, like Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. 

Boynton Beach gets its name from Nathan S. Boynton, a Civil War veteran who essentially founded the town when he bought 500 acres in the area in 1894. With tourism already in mind, he started work on Boynton Beach Hotel the next year, in 1895. And while this original structure no longer exists, it and Boynton's venturesome spirit lives on. Boynton Beach continues to attract visitors and residents, particularly retirees to neighborhoods like Leisureville, located roughly between Boynton Beach's inland shopping district and its beachfront shopping district. 

Like many growing coastal cities, crime rates vary in Boynton Beach, depending on the area. According to NeighborhoodScout — a real estate data database — crime tends to go up the further you move towards the beach. While not a government-run website, NeighborhoodScout can provide a general idea of local crime patterns. For visitors, that simply means it's a good idea to take especial care when traveling in certain neighborhoods and traffic-heavy areas toward the coastline. Anecdotes from locals on a Boynton Beach Reddit thread confirm NeighborhoodScout's findings, with some residents calling the area around I-95 — which runs north and south through the town near the beach — "sketchy" and "unsavory."

Still, despite Boynton Beach's crime figures, a small poll on Niche, a data site that profiles neighborhoods and schools across the country, reveals that only 5% of residents feel unsafe at any given time. Locals on the Boynton Beach Reddit thread portray a similar sentiment, saying, despite east of I-95, "the rest of Boynton is decent (if a bit dull)."

Thankfully, the Boynton Beach Police Department (BBPD) is doing its best to reduce crime in town. As of January, 2025, the department announced its plan to add a full 650 surveillance cameras across Boynton Beach, which will allow for better responsiveness to crimes as it will help the BBPD connect police officers to events as they unfold. 

All in all, such efforts mean that even though Boynton Beach has its share of dangers, crime-related troubles included, the town is doing its best to make itself safe. Regardless, it's always worth it to stay mindful of your surroundings. Whether lounging on the bright sand of Oceanfront Park or Boynton Harbor Marina — or just ducking into local seafood and grill favorites like Two Georges and Banana Boat — it's a good idea to keep your belongings in sight and avoid leaving valuable unattended. And if you're renting a holiday home on the beach to stay for awhile, like Coastal Cottage, remember to never leave your doors unlocked (just as you would anywhere).

Besides these general tips, you'll have to watch out for dangerous beach fauna like washed-up jellyfish, which you could find anywhere in Florida. Also, you'll have to keep an eye out for the type of dangerous weather systems that threaten areas like Honeymoon Island.