According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI crime statistics, Rancho Santa Margarita is safer than 87% of the cities and towns in the US of all population sizes. In California, only on the order of 5% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Rancho Santa Margarita. If you live in Rancho Santa Margarita, your chance of becoming a victim of crime in the community is 1 in 121. The US average across communities from the largest to the smallest is 1 in 30. It is for these reasons that Rancho Santa Margarita is ranked as one of the top 100 safest cities in the U.S.A.
Additionally, NeighborhoodScout analyzed all cities and towns in America with a similar population size to Rancho Santa Margarita, and we found that the crime rate in Rancho Santa Margarita is one of the lowest in the nation for its size. This means Rancho Santa Margarita is one of the safest places in America in which to live for its size, a very important finding.
The crime data that NeighborhoodScout used for this analysis are the seven offenses from the uniform crime reports, collected by the FBI from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, and include both violent and property crimes, combined.
Now let us turn to take a look at how Rancho Santa Margarita does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Rancho Santa Margarita.
For Rancho Santa Margarita, NeighborhoodScout found that the violent crime rate is well below the national average for all communities of all population sizes. Violent crimes such as assault, rape, murder and armed robbery happen less often in Rancho Santa Margarita than in most of America. One's chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime here is one in 1518, which is a violent crime rate of 1 per one thousand inhabitants.
NeighborhoodScout's analysis of property crime reveals that the property crime rate in Rancho Santa Margarita is below average to all cities and towns in the nation. This means that you are less likely to become a victim of arson, motor vehicle theft, larceny, or burglary in Rancho Santa Margarita than in most communities in America. Your chance of becoming a victim of property crime if you live here? Just one in 132.