California’s Safest Cities of 2024

See crime rates for the safest cities.

When it comes to safety, daily concern continues to be the California state of mind. From those we surveyed, 50% of Californians feel a high daily level of concern for their safety—but that's a 19% decline year over year. 

With crime rates that are higher than nationwide averages, it's not surprising that Californians are among the most concerned about property crime, package theft, and violent crime. Just 30% of Californians surveyed say they feel safe in their state, the seventh lowest safety confidence in the nation.

Last year we didn't have enough reliable data to calculate crime rates or rank cities for The Golden State, so we won't be able to share year over year comparisons on crime rates. 

California's property crime rate is 25.3 incidents per 1,000 people. That's 23% higher than the nationwide rate of 20.7. The violent crime rate is 4.2 incidents per 1,000 people, a smaller 6% higher than the nationwide rate of 4.0.

Per capita crime rates in the safest cities are significantly lower, coming in at 1.7 for violent crime and 12.8 for property crime.

Property crime rates in California have consistently been higher than nationwide rates, but self-reported experiences with property crime went down year over year.

• Statewide, the property crime rate of 25.3 incidents per 1,000 people is 23% higher than the nationwide rate of 20.7.
• 6 in 10 Californians (61%) are highly concerned about property crime on a regular basis (US 52%)
• California reported the twelfth-lowest level of personal experience with property crime. 24% of survey respondents said it happened to them in the 12 months prior to the survey (US 27%).
• California saw a higher proportion of burglaries than the rest of the US, with burglaries making up 16% of all property crimes versus 13% nationwide.
• 7 in 10 respondents (70%) use some form of property protection—below the national average of 75%.
• Security cameras are the most popular form of property security (43%), followed by security systems (29%).
• 29% say they increased security measures in the 12 months prior to the survey (US 35%).

• 35% of participants reported experiencing package theft in the last 12 months—matching the US average.
• Californians are the third-most concerned state when it comes to package theft, with 63% saying they worry about it daily (US 53%).
• San Diego was the third-worst metro area for porch pirates in our 2023 report.
• 26% of respondents don't do anything to protect their packages, but those that do rely on doorbell cameras (35%) and asking carriers to leave packages in a safe spot (31%).

Californians are highly concerned about their safety and have the crime rates to back it up, yet only 29% use personal protection (US 36%). However, personal experiences with violent crime went down year over year.

• 64% of Californians said they are highly concerned about violent crime happening to them—that’s the third highest concern in the US.
• California's violent crime rate is 4.2 incidents per 1,000 people. That's higher than the national rate of 4.0, but lower than the the previous year's rate of 4.4.
• 7% of survey respondents said they had a personal experience with violent crime in the 12 months prior to the survey—that's a 53% drop year over year and the third-lowest in the US.
• Of those who carry personal protection, 72% rely on pepper spray, with pocket knives being the second-most used at 55%.
• Just 3 in 10 respondents said they feel safe in California, a 17 point drop year over year and lower than the nationwide average of 45%.

• Concern about gun violence dipped 3 points year over year, from 57% last year to 54%.
• Gun violence is the crime and safety concern with the lowest level of daily worry in The Golden State.
• There were 51 mass shooting incidents in California in 2023. That's one more than in 2022.
• 22% of Californians use firearms to protect their property compared to the national average of 28%.
• 17% said they use a concealed firearm for personal protection, lower than 41% nationwide who do the same.

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• 77 cities met criteria to be considered for ranking.
• Rancho Santa Margarita is the safest city in California, with a violent crime rate of 0.4 and property crime rate of 4.8 incidents per 1,000.
• 2 cities reported zero murders and zero rapes: Rancho Santa Margarita and Yorba Linda.
• All the safest cities reported fewer than 3 violent crimes per 1,000 people. 
• 5 cities reported fewer than 10 violent crimes per 1,000 people: Rancho Santa Margarita, Aliso Viejo, Lincoln, Poway, and Santee. 
• Irvine, Elk Grove, Murrieta, Fontana, Menifee, and Clovis all have more than 100,000 residents, making their low per capita crime rates even more impressive.

• Best Home Security Systems
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• Burglary Stats & Facts
• Over 50% Of All Burglaries Are Residential—How To Protect Your Family
• The Best Personal Safety Devices for Every Situation

Find all endnotes and sources in our full methodology.

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed March 18, 2024.

• 2022 and 2021 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
  • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
• 2022 NIBRS Estimation Tables

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed March 18, 2024.

Gun Violence Archive, "Mass Shootings." Accessed March 18, 2023.