Safest Cities in California – 2021

Last Updated on December 27, 2020

California is in the lower half of states in terms of safety when you look at statewide crime rates. The Golden State’s violent crime rate of 4.47 is 21% higher than the national average, and its property crime rate is also higher than the national level.

Crime rate per 1,000

Law enforcement per 1,000

However, with a state as large and diverse as California, there’s bound to be a high variance in crime rates and other characteristics between the state’s cities. Sure enough, California’s safest cities performed very well in both major crime categories.

California’s safest city is Imperial, a sun-baked community of around 18K in the Colorado Desert. Perhaps it’s too hot for Imperial’s residents to commit crimes, as the city’s 0.5 per 1,000 violent crime rate and 4.28 per 1,000 property crime rate combine for the lowest total crime rate in the state by a significant margin.

Hillsborough is California’s 2nd safest community. Part of the San Francisco Bay Area, the wealthy town is entirely residential, with commercial zoning. This may contribute to Hillsborough’s low property crime rate of 7.77 per 1,000.

#3 Palos Verdes Estates is an affluent Los Angeles County city famous for being master-planned by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the great American landscape architect. The city logged a remarkable 0.44 per 1,000 violent crime rate, which is the 2nd lowest in the state of California.

Earning the 4th spot is Truckee, a colorfully-named town in Nevada County in the northern part of the state. Truckee excels at churning out world-class skiers and snowboarders, like Stacey Cook and Travis Ganong, as well as at keeping its inhabitants safe: the city recorded a violent crime rate of around 1 offense per 1,000 people in 2018.

Sierra Madre, a Los Angeles County city in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley, is California’s 5th safest city. Once named an “All-America City”, Sierra Madre distinguished itself in 2018 with a 0.63 per 1,000 violent crime rate and property crime rate below 10 per 1,000.

California’s Safest Cities

CA	City	Population	Violent crime	Property crime	Law enforcement employees	Total crimes	Crime rate per 1,000	Violent crimes per 1,000	Property crimes per 1,000	Law enforcement per 1,000
1	Imperial	17976	9	77	20	86	4.78	0.50	4.28	1.11
2	Hillsborough	11580	9	90	36	99	8.55	0.78	7.77	3.11
3	Palos Verdes Estates	13559	6	104	31	110	8.11	0.44	7.67	2.29
4	Truckee	16609	17	143	36	160	9.63	1.02	8.61	2.17
5	Sierra Madre	11055	7	95	19	102	9.23	0.63	8.59	1.72
6	Moraga	17866	12	94	12	106	5.93	0.67	5.26	0.67
7	Soledad	26313	70	101	21	171	6.50	2.66	3.84	0.80
8	Los Altos	30989	13	284	44	297	9.58	0.42	9.16	1.42
9	Coronado	24491	18	314	62	332	13.56	0.73	12.82	2.53
10	Foster City	34993	35	376	53	411	11.75	1.00	10.75	1.51
11	San Ramon	76569	43	786	82	829	10.83	0.56	10.27	1.07
12	San Marino	13358	11	203	31	214	16.02	0.82	15.20	2.32
13	Avenal	12084	44	118	19	162	13.41	3.64	9.76	1.57
14	Los Alamitos	11629	8	156	20	164	14.10	0.69	13.41	1.72
15	Ripon	15878	10	225	30	235	14.80	0.63	14.17	1.89
16	Mill Valley	14418	9	196	25	205	14.22	0.62	13.59	1.73
17	Benicia	28536	34	382	49	416	14.58	1.19	13.39	1.72
18	Los Gatos	30899	10	459	57	469	15.18	0.32	14.85	1.84
19	Scotts Valley	11998	17	191	28	208	17.34	1.42	15.92	2.33
20	Paradise	26755	65	279	34	344	12.86	2.43	10.43	1.27
21	Reedley	25809	105	289	46	394	15.27	4.07	11.20	1.78
22	Laguna Beach	23202	90	443	94	533	22.97	3.88	19.09	4.05
23	Clayton	12330	1	146	13	147	11.92	0.08	11.84	1.05
24	Simi Valley	127222	214	1491	162	1705	13.40	1.68	11.72	1.27
25	Newman	11525	19	134	14	153	13.28	1.65	11.63	1.21
26	Lincoln	48364	35	418	29	453	9.37	0.72	8.64	0.60
27	Piedmont	11478	21	195	27	216	18.82	1.83	16.99	2.35
28	Morro Bay	10692	36	135	18	171	15.99	3.37	12.63	1.68
29	Murrieta	114706	92	1412	129	1504	13.11	0.80	12.31	1.12
30	Novato	56577	97	773	84	870	15.38	1.71	13.66	1.48
31	Irvine	288052	160	3659	310	3819	13.26	0.56	12.70	1.08
32	Glendale	204724	202	3110	323	3312	16.18	0.99	15.19	1.58
33	Pacifica	39339	71	402	34	473	12.02	1.80	10.22	0.86
34	San Fernando	24869	102	312	40	414	16.65	4.10	12.55	1.61
35	Cypress	49223	58	704	68	762	15.48	1.18	14.30	1.38
36	King City	14228	32	175	17	207	14.55	2.25	12.30	1.19
37	Sunnyvale	155637	255	2541	282	2796	17.96	1.64	16.33	1.81
38	Greenfield	17680	97	193	26	290	16.40	5.49	10.92	1.47
39	Menlo Park	34694	43	606	66	649	18.71	1.24	17.47	1.90
40	Rocklin	65969	52	952	82	1004	15.22	0.79	14.43	1.24
41	Belmont	27325	40	424	42	464	16.98	1.46	15.52	1.54
42	Torrance	146968	267	2702	316	2969	20.20	1.82	18.38	2.15
43	Bell Gardens	42845	117	633	68	750	17.50	2.73	14.77	1.59
44	Elk Grove	174651	414	2359	226	2773	15.88	2.37	13.51	1.29
45	Ukiah	16037	95	284	46	379	23.63	5.92	17.71	2.87
46	Sanger	25287	88	362	41	450	17.80	3.48	14.32	1.62
47	Seaside	34303	92	445	43	537	15.65	2.68	12.97	1.25
48	Redwood City	88161	177	1254	118	1431	16.23	2.01	14.22	1.34
49	Auburn	14094	72	192	25	264	18.73	5.11	13.62	1.77
50	Healdsburg	11917	20	223	25	243	20.39	1.68	18.71	2.10
51	Cathedral City	55056	172	717	72	889	16.15	3.12	13.02	1.31
52	Marina	22511	49	317	29	366	16.26	2.18	14.08	1.29
53	Hermosa Beach	19737	30	477	62	507	25.69	1.52	24.17	3.14
54	Arroyo Grande	18244	24	286	25	310	16.99	1.32	15.68	1.37
55	Pacific Grove	15788	23	312	33	335	21.22	1.46	19.76	2.09
56	Hercules	25750	30	350	26	380	14.76	1.17	13.59	1.01
57	Martinez	38699	73	524	42	597	15.43	1.89	13.54	1.09
58	Folsom	78916	85	1245	101	1330	16.85	1.08	15.78	1.28
59	Chowchilla	18551	42	293	27	335	18.06	2.26	15.79	1.46
60	Orange	141108	160	2478	218	2638	18.69	1.13	17.56	1.54
61	Petaluma	61289	197	889	85	1086	17.72	3.21	14.51	1.39
62	Hollister	38930	98	496	40	594	15.26	2.52	12.74	1.03
63	Morgan Hill	46142	52	740	59	792	17.16	1.13	16.04	1.28
64	Manhattan Beach	36038	57	844	97	901	25.00	1.58	23.42	2.69
65	Grover Beach	13694	28	249	24	277	20.23	2.04	18.18	1.75
66	Daly City	107928	242	1528	124	1770	16.40	2.24	14.16	1.15
67	Chula Vista	274370	835	3611	305	4446	16.20	3.04	13.16	1.11
68	Napa	80145	269	1241	119	1510	18.84	3.36	15.48	1.48
69	Santa Paula	30456	90	458	41	548	17.99	2.96	15.04	1.35
70	Fontana	213964	709	3218	290	3927	18.35	3.31	15.04	1.36
71	Galt	26548	96	462	47	558	21.02	3.62	17.40	1.77
72	La Mesa	60442	160	1049	96	1209	20.00	2.65	17.36	1.59
73	Atascadero	30716	99	428	36	527	17.16	3.22	13.93	1.17
74	Pasadena	143448	547	2928	333	3475	24.22	3.81	20.41	2.32
75	Lindsay	13542	34	214	18	248	18.31	2.51	15.80	1.33
76	Rohnert Park	43129	222	745	85	967	22.42	5.15	17.27	1.97
77	South Pasadena	25924	32	522	46	554	21.37	1.23	20.14	1.77
78	Pleasanton	84992	110	1445	110	1555	18.30	1.29	17.00	1.29
79	Redondo Beach	68048	171	1452	149	1623	23.85	2.51	21.34	2.19
80	Newport Beach	86276	124	2073	213	2197	25.46	1.44	24.03	2.47
81	La Habra	62769	111	1155	97	1266	20.17	1.77	18.40	1.55
82	Coalinga	16593	73	244	23	317	19.10	4.40	14.70	1.39
83	San Gabriel	40637	136	691	63	827	20.35	3.35	17.00	1.55
84	Palo Alto	67560	72	1513	137	1585	23.46	1.07	22.39	2.03
85	Livermore	91612	186	1696	141	1882	20.54	2.03	18.51	1.54
86	Huntington Beach	203428	429	3993	349	4422	21.74	2.11	19.63	1.72
87	La Palma	15747	20	334	28	354	22.48	1.27	21.21	1.78
88	National City	61763	306	1167	122	1473	23.85	4.95	18.89	1.98
89	Carlsbad	116739	243	2100	162	2343	20.07	2.08	17.99	1.39
90	Livingston	14301	41	308	29	349	24.40	2.87	21.54	2.03
91	Dixon	20472	53	368	29	421	20.56	2.59	17.98	1.42
92	Lemoore	26626	188	385	41	573	21.52	7.06	14.46	1.54
93	McFarland	15475	61	212	16	273	17.64	3.94	13.70	1.03
94	Ridgecrest	29055	171	500	50	671	23.09	5.89	17.21	1.72
95	San Diego	1436495	5360	27416	2332	32776	22.82	3.73	19.09	1.62
96	Santa Maria	108100	497	1932	170	2429	22.47	4.60	17.87	1.57
97	Placentia	52324	120	904	62	1024	19.57	2.29	17.28	1.18
98	South Lake Tahoe	22060	182	454	56	636	28.83	8.25	20.58	2.54
99	Monrovia	37128	69	914	79	983	26.48	1.86	24.62	2.13
100	Los Angeles	4029741	30126	101267	13010	131393	32.61	7.48	25.13	3.23
101	Escondido	153073	535	2736	209	3271	21.37	3.50	17.87	1.37
102	Burbank	105041	229	2625	231	2854	27.17	2.18	24.99	2.20
103	Seal Beach	24356	39	601	49	640	26.28	1.60	24.68	2.01
104	South San Francisco	67973	181	1444	112	1625	23.91	2.66	21.24	1.65
105	Corona	170041	263	3264	209	3527	20.74	1.55	19.20	1.23
106	Tustin	81243	122	1874	139	1996	24.57	1.50	23.07	1.71
107	Santa Ana	335403	1571	6390	533	7961	23.74	4.68	19.05	1.59
108	Port Hueneme	22417	61	421	29	482	21.50	2.72	18.78	1.29
109	Santa Rosa	176325	823	3118	246	3941	22.35	4.67	17.68	1.40
110	Vacaville	101146	230	2158	157	2388	23.61	2.27	21.34	1.55
111	Bell	35857	184	495	36	679	18.94	5.13	13.80	1.00
112	El Monte	116464	362	2242	162	2604	22.36	3.11	19.25	1.39
113	Central Marin	35033	40	723	46	763	21.78	1.14	20.64	1.31
114	Baldwin Park	76541	287	1386	101	1673	21.86	3.75	18.11	1.32
115	Gardena	60423	326	1306	121	1632	27.01	5.40	21.61	2.00
116	Farmersville	10806	45	190	14	235	21.75	4.16	17.58	1.30
117	La Verne	32656	87	742	57	829	25.39	2.66	22.72	1.75
118	Brentwood	64118	152	1317	91	1469	22.91	2.37	20.54	1.42
119	Corcoran	21487	75	380	26	455	21.18	3.49	17.69	1.21
120	Clovis	111759	221	2438	166	2659	23.79	1.98	21.81	1.49
121	Banning	31451	135	531	37	666	21.18	4.29	16.88	1.18
122	San Mateo	105839	285	2163	148	2448	23.13	2.69	20.44	1.40
123	East Palo Alto	29991	141	567	43	708	23.61	4.70	18.91	1.43
124	Azusa	50393	193	1122	88	1315	26.09	3.83	22.26	1.75
125	Oceanside	177464	669	3836	293	4505	25.39	3.77	21.62	1.65
126	Tehachapi	12402	82	276	26	358	28.87	6.61	22.25	2.10
127	Placerville	11018	54	278	25	332	30.13	4.90	25.23	2.27
128	Beaumont	48559	208	871	60	1079	22.22	4.28	17.94	1.24
129	Arcadia	59151	76	1420	94	1496	25.29	1.28	24.01	1.59
130	El Cajon	104497	515	2269	182	2784	26.64	4.93	21.71	1.74
131	Ontario	177542	670	4584	381	5254	29.59	3.77	25.82	2.15
132	Fremont	238024	502	4687	278	5189	21.80	2.11	19.69	1.17
133	Santa Barbara	92630	415	2333	199	2748	29.67	4.48	25.19	2.15
134	Long Beach	470445	3284	11922	1164	15206	32.32	6.98	25.34	2.47
135	Covina	48557	188	1117	83	1305	26.88	3.87	23.00	1.71
136	Alhambra	85718	193	1930	122	2123	24.77	2.25	22.52	1.42
137	Exeter	10583	16	279	19	295	27.87	1.51	26.36	1.80
138	Chino	91535	259	2216	153	2475	27.04	2.83	24.21	1.67
139	Claremont	36178	66	930	62	996	27.53	1.82	25.71	1.71
140	Inglewood	110726	683	2744	235	3427	30.95	6.17	24.78	2.12
141	Monterey Park	61160	124	1589	106	1713	28.01	2.03	25.98	1.73
142	El Segundo	16881	62	714	79	776	45.97	3.67	42.30	4.68
143	Oxnard	211737	801	5055	357	5856	27.66	3.78	23.87	1.69
144	San Bruno	43621	123	984	62	1107	25.38	2.82	22.56	1.42
145	Hawthorne	88372	617	1705	134	2322	26.28	6.98	19.29	1.52
146	Anaheim	354743	1192	8702	597	9894	27.89	3.36	24.53	1.68
147	Paso Robles	32228	43	797	47	840	26.06	1.33	24.73	1.46
148	Beverly Hills	34557	106	1757	215	1863	53.91	3.07	50.84	6.22
149	Mountain View	82518	157	2103	131	2260	27.39	1.90	25.49	1.59
150	Milpitas	79895	87	1934	108	2021	25.30	1.09	24.21	1.35
151	Downey	113277	367	2615	165	2982	26.32	3.24	23.09	1.46
152	West Covina	107806	292	2513	153	2805	26.02	2.71	23.31	1.42
153	Brea	43279	83	1293	90	1376	31.79	1.92	29.88	2.08
154	Watsonville	54513	243	1330	93	1573	28.86	4.46	24.40	1.71
155	Madera	66098	399	1346	94	1745	26.40	6.04	20.36	1.42
156	Kingsburg	12089	40	306	20	346	28.62	3.31	25.31	1.65
157	Roseville	137706	299	3252	185	3551	25.79	2.17	23.62	1.34
158	Kerman	15128	59	358	23	417	27.56	3.90	23.66	1.52
159	Mendota	11476	86	197	14	283	24.66	7.49	17.17	1.22
160	Hanford	56805	274	1264	82	1538	27.08	4.82	22.25	1.44
161	Shafter	19986	44	544	34	588	29.42	2.20	27.22	1.70
162	Tracy	91988	199	2331	136	2530	27.50	2.16	25.34	1.48
163	Brawley	26590	154	657	48	811	30.50	5.79	24.71	1.81
164	Fortuna	12228	46	352	25	398	32.55	3.76	28.79	2.04
165	Davis	69486	117	1690	91	1807	26.01	1.68	24.32	1.31
166	Union City	76198	261	1653	92	1914	25.12	3.43	21.69	1.21
167	West Sacramento	54215	225	1412	94	1637	30.19	4.15	26.04	1.73
168	Suisun City	29859	93	627	33	720	24.11	3.11	21.00	1.11
169	Lompoc	43719	218	951	59	1169	26.74	4.99	21.75	1.35
170	Oakdale	23504	48	555	29	603	25.66	2.04	23.61	1.23
171	Santa Clara	128682	208	3741	222	3949	30.69	1.62	29.07	1.73
172	Newark	48276	97	1318	75	1415	29.31	2.01	27.30	1.55
173	Garden Grove	174661	507	4040	213	4547	26.03	2.90	23.13	1.22
174	San Jose	1047305	4444	25753	1550	30197	28.83	4.24	24.59	1.48
175	Parlier	15356	111	335	23	446	29.04	7.23	21.82	1.50
176	Los Banos	39651	144	1071	66	1215	30.64	3.63	27.01	1.66
177	Fountain Valley	56433	52	1496	75	1548	27.43	0.92	26.51	1.33
178	Gilroy	59033	209	1609	98	1818	30.80	3.54	27.26	1.66
179	Burlingame	30959	58	921	54	979	31.62	1.87	29.75	1.74
180	Alameda	79951	184	2123	113	2307	28.86	2.30	26.55	1.41
181	San Pablo	31403	180	979	72	1159	36.91	5.73	31.18	2.29
182	Porterville	59394	209	1561	89	1770	29.80	3.52	26.28	1.50
183	Dinuba	24411	184	597	42	781	31.99	7.54	24.46	1.72
184	Fullerton	141132	332	3660	189	3992	28.29	2.35	25.93	1.34
185	Lodi	66416	277	1701	98	1978	29.78	4.17	25.61	1.48
186	Pittsburg	73462	422	1679	100	2101	28.60	5.74	22.86	1.36
187	Tulare	64509	251	1818	108	2069	32.07	3.89	28.18	1.67
188	Hayward	162881	669	4770	292	5439	33.39	4.11	29.29	1.79
189	Montebello	63291	218	1643	85	1861	29.40	3.44	25.96	1.34
190	Glendora	52727	122	1523	79	1645	31.20	2.31	28.88	1.50
191	Citrus Heights	88603	324	2478	133	2802	31.62	3.66	27.97	1.50
192	Walnut Creek	70587	109	2249	118	2358	33.41	1.54	31.86	1.67
193	Merced	83659	465	2219	129	2684	32.08	5.56	26.52	1.54
194	Anderson	10433	64	388	29	452	43.32	6.13	37.19	2.78
195	Albany	20379	37	608	30	645	31.65	1.82	29.83	1.47
196	Chico	94273	611	2403	141	3014	31.97	6.48	25.49	1.50
197	Visalia	134224	450	3978	212	4428	32.99	3.35	29.64	1.58
198	California City	14051	47	393	20	440	31.31	3.34	27.97	1.42
199	Culver City	39335	188	1756	138	1944	49.42	4.78	44.64	3.51
200	Fairfield	117883	587	3280	177	3867	32.80	4.98	27.82	1.50
201	Sacramento	507037	3329	15417	948	18746	36.97	6.57	30.41	1.87
202	Upland	77453	290	2072	99	2362	30.50	3.74	26.75	1.28
203	Arvin	21560	207	382	22	589	27.32	9.60	17.72	1.02
204	San Rafael	59254	257	1695	87	1952	32.94	4.34	28.61	1.47
205	Colton	55203	184	1600	77	1784	32.32	3.33	28.98	1.39
206	Pomona	153496	877	4697	269	5574	36.31	5.71	30.60	1.75
207	Fresno	531818	2953	17787	1063	20740	39.00	5.55	33.45	2.00
208	South Gate	95570	634	2364	124	2998	31.37	6.63	24.74	1.30
209	Buena Park	83336	257	2583	125	2840	34.08	3.08	31.00	1.50
210	Palm Springs	48644	274	2078	145	2352	48.35	5.63	42.72	2.98
211	Ventura	111272	445	3482	176	3927	35.29	4.00	31.29	1.58
212	Campbell	41853	119	1379	68	1498	35.79	2.84	32.95	1.62
213	Delano	53141	238	1437	67	1675	31.52	4.48	27.04	1.26
214	Arcata	18073	64	665	37	729	40.34	3.54	36.80	2.05
215	Costa Mesa	114358	344	3792	188	4136	36.17	3.01	33.16	1.64
216	Indio	91346	495	2242	103	2737	29.96	5.42	24.54	1.13
217	Clearlake	15037	109	506	31	615	40.90	7.25	33.65	2.06
218	Manteca	81080	256	2288	99	2544	31.38	3.16	28.22	1.22
219	Pinole	19509	70	747	42	817	41.88	3.59	38.29	2.15
220	Concord	130855	473	4126	197	4599	35.15	3.61	31.53	1.51
221	Riverside	331022	1686	10226	522	11912	35.99	5.09	30.89	1.58
222	Santa Monica	92674	797	4732	397	5529	59.66	8.60	51.06	4.28
223	Selma	24979	240	725	45	965	38.63	9.61	29.02	1.80
224	Turlock	74267	420	2233	114	2653	35.72	5.66	30.07	1.54
225	Monterey	28744	112	1143	64	1255	43.66	3.90	39.76	2.23
226	Redlands	71954	264	2491	123	2755	38.29	3.67	34.62	1.71
227	Salinas	158590	981	4304	204	5285	33.32	6.19	27.14	1.29
228	Grass Valley	13004	70	517	29	587	45.14	5.38	39.76	2.23
229	Ceres	49101	228	1452	62	1680	34.22	4.64	29.57	1.26
230	Huntington Park	58922	429	1800	90	2229	37.83	7.28	30.55	1.53
231	Desert Hot Springs	28991	309	638	33	947	32.67	10.66	22.01	1.14
232	Calexico	40596	87	1064	34	1151	28.35	2.14	26.21	0.84
233	Blythe	19517	71	684	30	755	38.68	3.64	35.05	1.54
234	Rialto	104173	543	3038	125	3581	34.38	5.21	29.16	1.20
235	Susanville	15017	197	274	15	471	31.36	13.12	18.25	1.00
236	El Centro	44609	126	1625	67	1751	39.25	2.82	36.43	1.50
237	Richmond	110982	1046	4353	253	5399	48.65	9.42	39.22	2.28
238	Antioch	112956	602	3330	133	3932	34.81	5.33	29.48	1.18
239	San Luis Obispo	47885	192	1809	80	2001	41.79	4.01	37.78	1.67
240	Capitola	10218	26	507	26	533	52.16	2.54	49.62	2.54
241	Signal Hill	11711	86	690	46	776	66.26	7.34	58.92	3.93
242	Berkeley	123735	586	5381	247	5967	48.22	4.74	43.49	2.00
243	San Francisco	889282	6144	49214	2913	55358	62.25	6.91	55.34	3.28
244	Hemet	86047	432	2863	104	3295	38.29	5.02	33.27	1.21
245	Atwater	29565	179	910	33	1089	36.83	6.05	30.78	1.12
246	Stockton	313158	4383	11800	671	16183	51.68	14.00	37.68	2.14
247	Redding	92068	620	3433	135	4053	44.02	6.73	37.29	1.47
248	Marysville	12459	112	533	25	645	51.77	8.99	42.78	2.01
249	Santa Cruz	65680	390	2905	123	3295	50.17	5.94	44.23	1.87
250	Red Bluff	14315	165	719	40	884	61.75	11.53	50.23	2.79
251	Pleasant Hill	35252	57	1584	56	1641	46.55	1.62	44.93	1.59
252	San Leandro	91359	473	3584	127	4057	44.41	5.18	39.23	1.39
253	Modesto	215822	1904	7727	301	9631	44.62	8.82	35.80	1.39
254	Montclair	39648	239	1646	60	1885	47.54	6.03	41.52	1.51
255	Eureka	27174	197	1491	68	1688	62.12	7.25	54.87	2.50
256	Barstow	24095	285	1102	51	1387	57.56	11.83	45.74	2.12
257	Bakersfield	385609	1895	16097	537	17992	46.66	4.91	41.74	1.39
258	Vallejo	122974	942	4508	150	5450	44.32	7.66	36.66	1.22
259	San Bernardino	217986	2906	9014	394	11920	54.68	13.33	41.35	1.81
260	Oroville	19186	112	982	35	1094	57.02	5.84	51.18	1.82
261	El Cerrito	25793	171	1314	47	1485	57.57	6.63	50.94	1.82
262	Oakland	430230	5480	23190	1010	28670	66.64	12.74	53.90	2.35
263	Emeryville	12016	170	2014	52	2184	181.76	14.15	167.61	4.33

Methodology

To identify the safest cities, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and cities with populations under 10,000. This left 3,381 cities (out of a total of 9,251).

There are two broad classifications of crimes: violent crimes and non-violent crimes. According to the FBI, “Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses that involve force or threat of force. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. ”

We computed the total number of crimes reported by each city by adding violent crimes and property crimes. We then created a crime rate as the number of crimes per 1,000 population. Then we transformed the total crime rate variable so that the skewness was reduced and normalized.

Data from 2,831 law enforcement agencies was then collected to determine police adequacy (TotalCrimes / Number of police employees). We consider that the smaller the police adequacy statistic is, the safer the city is. This variable was also transformed and normalized.

Finally, the two variables were combined to create a safety score for each city.

Safest Cities in California – 2021

California’s Safest Cities

Methodology

Information

Resources