9 Zip Codes: Crime Rates in Boca Raton

This is the second in our series on crime rates. Part 1 compared arrest statistics in West Boca with East Boca and with the rest of Palm Beach County.
In this second part, we will look at arrests in West Boca and East Boca only, by individual zip code. We’ve figured out which zip codes have the most arrests and which have the fewest.
As discussed in Part 1 there’s no perfect way to break down east and west. We generally define West Boca as including zip codes 33428, 33498, 33496, 33434 and 33433.

East Boca includes zip codes 33431, 33432, 33486 and 33487. The division is a rough compromise between the city boundaries and using Congress, Military Trail and/or St. Andrews Blvd. as the break line. One East Boca friend tells us that I-95 should be the divider. Others think it should be the Turnpike or Jog Road. But zip codes are useful so that’s what we’re doing.
Let’s start with the zip codes that have the fewest arrests. To be clear, we are referring to the address listed for the person arrested. We do not have information on where the arrests or alleged crimes took place, so this is what we have to go on.
Three West Boca zips are in a virtual tie. With only 1.1 arrests per thousand residents, zip code 33434 generally runs from 441 to St. Andrews between Yamato and Glades. Just barely higher at 1.2 arrests per 1000 is zip code 33496, a rectangle from 441 to Military Trail north of Yamato. Tied with that number is zip code 33498, west of 441 and north of Glades. That is using arrests per population. If we go by counts, 33496 is actually the lowest with 2 counts per thousand, just below 33434 with 2.1 counts per thousand and 33498 is a bit higher at 2.4 counts per thousand.
Mostly south of the 33434 zip code between Lyons and St. Andrews/Military Trail south of Glades Road, 33433 had more arrests with 1.6 per thousand and more counts with 2.6 per thousand. The highest arrest rate in West Boca is 33428, the home zip code for West Boca News. We had 2.4 arrests per thousand residents and 4.5 counts per thousand. The number of counts for 33428 was inflated somewhat by one man arrested for 36 counts of sexual assault on a  child.
Our spreadsheet with the data is below, including some demographic statistics and numbers for East Boca as well.

 
While the numbers for 33428 might seem high, they’re actually in line with three of the East Boca zip codes, 33487, 33486 and 33431. The worst zip code in all of Boca Raton is 33432, with 4.2 arrests and 8.8 counts per thousand residents. Keep in mind that the rest of the county has an even higher crime rate with 12 counts per thousand. So even the worst zip code in all of Boca is significantly safer.

Demographics may play an interesting role in the numbers. Zip code 33434 has the lowest arrest rate and also has the oldest population with a median age over 62 years old. Approximately half the population of 33434 lives in either Century Village or Boca West, two very large developments filled with seniors. Meanwhile 33428 has the youngest population in West Boca with a median age of 41 years old.
Regular readers of West Boca News will have noticed a lot of arrests in the Sandalfoot area (and the Sandalfoot KKK guy). That area is mostly in 33428 but also includes the western edge of 33433. It may explain the higher arrest rates in those two zip codes, though on the other hand Sandalfoot may be unfairly stigmatized.

We’re not quite done with this project. In Part 3 we will be talking about the worst zip codes in the whole county. It’s going to take us a while to get through all the data so don’t expect that article for a couple weeks or longer.
To see Part 1 of the series, click this link: How bad is crime in West Boca?