Crime rates for San Diego, CA

About San Diego crime rates

The crime rate in San Diego is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 27 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in San Diego is 1 in 37. Based on FBI crime data, San Diego is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to California, San Diego has a crime rate that is higher than 63% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

However, NeighborhoodScout analyzed all cities and towns in America with a similar population size to San Diego, and we found that the crime rate in San Diego is one of the lowest in the nation for its size. This means San Diego 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 San Diego 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 San Diego.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in San Diego occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in San Diego; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 259. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that San Diego's rate for property crime is 23 per one thousand population. This makes San Diego a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in San Diego is one in 43.

Importantly, we found that San Diego has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in San Diego is one in 209.