California City, CA carries a PlainCrime D safety grade with violent crime 67% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, California City, CA shows violent crime at 588.8 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,587.4 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 67% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade D from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
D safety grade
588.8/100K violent
1587.4/100K property
+67% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for California City, CA
Comparable rate records
California City's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the California cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to California City's 588.8 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Riverside (589.7), Lawndale (593.7), Bell (583.7), Placerville (583.1). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
Position in the state cohort
California City reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable California cities
At 588.8 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, California City ranks 94 of 458 — above 364 of the 457 other California cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +79.2% against the cohort median of 328.5. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 27.1% of the 292 Part I offenses reported in California City for 2024, against a median of 17.1% across comparable California cities — a gap of 10.0 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
Property-offense composition
Burglary and vehicle theft carry more of the property total than they do across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 53.1% of reported property offenses in California City, against a cohort median of 69.5%. The remainder is burglary (51) and motor vehicle theft (49). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 630.0 per 100,000 in 2020 to 588.8 in 2024 (-6.5%). The highest observed value was 630.0 in 2020 and the lowest 502.0 in 2022. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate California City's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
California City's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 203.6 Census sq mi, California City logged 1 property and 0.4 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
California City leans on larceny-theft at 39% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 2,651.
Violent offenses are 27% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (203.6 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Property rate moved most (2023→2024)
Property Crime Rate
-8.8%
1740.9 → 1587.4/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-0.8%
593.5 → 588.8/100K
Property offenses lead California City's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs CA
Property Crime
213
1587.4
1985.9
Larceny-Theft
113
842.2
-
Burglary
51
380.1
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
49
365.2
-
Arson
5
37.3
-
Violent Crime
79
588.8
476.8
Aggravated Assault
69
514.2
-
Robbery
6
44.7
-
Rape
3
22.4
-
Murder
1
7.5
-
California City Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
California City property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
California City Police Department
Reporting agency for California City NIBRS-participating
California City Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind California City's 292 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in California
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the California cities closest to California City in population. Their populations run from 12,868 to 14,112, against 13,418 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
California City at 588.8/100K violent and 1,587.4/100K property - matched below outside California (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, California City reported 79 violent crimes and 213 property crimes, for a total of 292 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in California City?
From 2023 to 2024, California City's violent crime rate decreased by 0.8%, and the property crime rate decreased by 8.8%.
What is the most common crime in California City?
The most common crime type in California City is larceny-theft, accounting for 38.7% of all reported crimes (113 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: California City figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 California City, CA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.