Edgewater, FL - Out of 50 cities in the state of Florida, two of Volusia’s own make it to a list categorizing some of the Sunshine State’s safest areas. The website Safewise is behind that study, known as "Florida’s 50 Safest Cities of 2020." And, according to Rebecca Edwards, the author of the study, 56% of Florida residents express high or very high concern about their safety on a daily basis. That number is actually 10 percentage points above the national average and four points higher than what the state reported last year. The study also found that tragic events such as the 2017 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland (which ranked at #4 on this list) likely contributed to the state’s heightened concern for general safety. When it comes to actual rankings, Safewise observed and noted different categories and metrics for each city, including population, median income and the rate of violent crimes and property crimes. Once that was established, the ranking began. Out of 50 cities highlighted, Edgewater and Port Orange were the only local municipalities from the Volusia/Flagler area that were mentioned. Edgewater came in at number 28 overall, with a population of almost 23,000 with a violent crime rate of 1.1 and a property crime rate of 18.1, which is down from 21.3 in 2019 but up from 11.4 in 2018. Port Orange ranked a few lower than Edgewater at 35 overall. With a population over 64,000 and a median income of $48,478, Port Orange also had a violent crime rate of 0.4, which was lower than Edgewater’s, but a propert crime rate of 21.8, which is down from 25 but still higher than Edgewater’s. Other cities were ranked, as they prepared a list of about 142, and still only Volusia cities made the list. New Smyrna Beach came in the third highest at 71, South Daytona came in just below that at 73, then came Ormond Beach at 80 and Daytona Beach all the way down at 140, just two from the bottom.
Study: Edgewater, Port Orange Among Florida’s Safest Cities
