Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.
Raw data sources:
18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
Date(s) & Update Frequency:
Reflects 2024 calendar year; released from FBI in October 2025 (latest available). Updated annually.
Where is 2025 data?
Methodology:
Our nationwide meta-analysis overcomes the issues inherent in any crime database, including non-reporting and reporting errors. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations….
Read more about Scout's Crime Data
The crime rate in Watsonville is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 17 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 Watsonville is 1 in 60. Based on FBI crime data, Watsonville is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to California, Watsonville has a crime rate that is higher than 59% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.
However, compared to other communities of similar population size, Watsonville has a crime rate that is noticeably lower than the average. This means that for comparably sized cities all across America, Watsonville is actually safer than most according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis of FBI crime data.
Now let us turn to take a look at how Watsonville 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 Watsonville.
From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Watsonville 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 Watsonville; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 253. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants.
NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Watsonville's rate for property crime is 13 per one thousand population. This makes Watsonville 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 Watsonville is one in 79.
Importantly, we found that Watsonville 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 Watsonville is one in 298.
Watsonville Crime
Data
FAQ on NeighborhoodScout's Crime Data
NeighborhoodScout® provides exclusive crime risk analytics for every neighborhood in America with up to 98% predictive accuracy. Crime risk indices are nationally comparable on a 1 – 100 scale, where 100 means safer than 100% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Crime risk data are updated annually. Raw crime incidents are sourced from all 18,000+ local law enforcement agencies – municipal, county, transit, park, port, university, tribal and more, assigned to localities, then built into NeighborhoodScout’s proprietary predictive models to provide a comprehensive crime risk profile for every neighborhood and address-vicinity in the U.S.
