Results are based on 1,410 in-home interviews conducted in 2 retirement communities (age homogenous) and two age-heterogenous communities in Florida and New Jersey. Victimization rates were low in all communites; although nearly half of the respondents had some fear of crime, the percentage reporting great fear of crime was low. Victimization and fear of crime were only weakly related to one another, and the regression model for each did not account for much variance. Both were signifcantly related to the type of community, and fear of crime was also related to other variables. The greater the age density (greater concentration of the elderly), the less crime and fear of crime. Living arrangements, sociodemographic variables, and health status of the elderly as indicators of vulnerability to crime were not related to victimization but were related to fear of crime. The effects of community setting on fear were reduced when these other variables are taken into account. Suggestions for other, unmeasured sources of variance are presented. 4 tables and 38 references. (Author abstract modified)