Delray Beach ranks No. 1 in Florida for pickpocketing, beating out Miami and Tampa

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Delray Beach ranks as the worst city in Florida for pickpocketing, according to a new study by Coinfully, a rare coin buying company.

The study analyzed FBI crime data from 2022 to 2024 and ranked Florida cities by the number of annual pocket-picking offenses reported to the FBI for every 100,000 residents. Delray Beach topped the list with an average of 31.46 pickpocketing reports per 100,000 residents each year — equivalent to 67 total incidents over the three-year period.

Despite having far fewer total incidents than larger cities, Delray Beach's smaller population pushed its per-capita rate above hotspots like Hialeah and Miami.

Wyatt McDonald, president of Coinfully, said the findings challenge assumptions about where pickpocketing is most common in Florida.

"What's interesting about these findings is that pickpocketing in Florida isn't isolated to massive theme park destinations where you see a lot of tourism. Instead, it seems to be in areas with high local traffic," McDonald said. "Delray Beach tops the list largely, because places like Atlantic Avenue put thousands of people into walkable streets where visitors naturally let their guard down."

Some Delray Beach residents told WPTV the ranking comes as no surprise.

"There's a lot of tourism. People let their guard down. There's a lot of bars," Orlando Chang Barrero said.

Sgt. Jerry DeFranco, of the Delray Beach Police Department, told WPTV's Hollani Davis that thieves typically target three types of items.

"Phones are high value and wallets (and) credit cards. (They steal anything that is) easy opportunity to go somewhere else and utilize the credit card or selling the phone on the secondhand market," DeFranco said.

The Delray Beach Police Department said officers regularly patrol high-visibility areas like Atlantic Avenue. The department has also established working relationships with bars and restaurants to help educate patrons against leaving personal belongings out in the open.

McDonald offered several tips for avoiding becoming a victim.

"When heading into busy areas, you need to be deliberate about what you carry. Keep valuables in a front pocket or zipped internal pocket, and never hang a bag over the back of a chair, especially in packed bars or restaurants," McDonald said. "A crowd is a pickpocket's best friend, so the moment you feel bumped or squeezed, that's your cue to check your belongings."

The Coinfully study drew on the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System and measured pocket-picking offenses against U.S. Census resident population figures to produce annual rates per 100,000 residents.

Florida cities with the highest pickpocketing reports (2022–2024)