Goleta, CA carries a PlainCrime B safety grade with violent crime 42% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Goleta, CA shows violent crime at 205.3 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,569 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 42% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade B from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
B safety grade
205.3/100K violent
1569/100K property
-42% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Goleta, CA
Comparable rate records
Goleta's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the California cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Goleta's 205.3 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Indian Wells (204.5), Beaumont (204.0), Huntington Beach (207.3), Cotati (203.3). 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
Goleta sits mid-pack among comparable California cities
At 205.3 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Goleta ranks 328 of 458 — above 130 of the 457 other California cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -38.4% against the cohort median of 333.1. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 11.6% of the 579 Part I offenses reported in Goleta for 2024, against a median of 17.1% across comparable California cities — a gap of 5.5 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
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 82.0% of reported property offenses in Goleta, against a cohort median of 69.5%. The remainder is burglary (67) and motor vehicle theft (25). 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 higher
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 193.6 per 100,000 in 2020 to 205.3 in 2024 (+6.1%). The highest observed value was 205.3 in 2024 and the lowest 148.8 in 2022. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Goleta'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.
Goleta's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 7.9 Census sq mi, Goleta logged 65.2 property and 8.5 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Goleta's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (73% of 579 offenses; mix index 5,497).
Violent offenses are only 12% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (7.9 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+18.3%
173.5 → 205.3/100K
Property Crime Rate
+6.6%
1471.5 → 1569/100K
Property offenses lead Goleta's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs CA
Property Crime
512
1569
1985.9
Larceny-Theft
420
1287.1
-
Burglary
67
205.3
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
25
76.6
-
Arson
16
49
-
Violent Crime
67
205.3
476.8
Aggravated Assault
48
147.1
-
Robbery
14
42.9
-
Rape
5
15.3
-
Murder
0
0
-
Goleta 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.
Goleta 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
Goleta Police Department
Reporting agency for Goleta NIBRS-participating
Goleta Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Goleta's 579 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 Goleta in population. Their populations run from 31,828 to 33,539, against 32,632 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Goleta reported 67 violent crimes and 512 property crimes, for a total of 579 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Goleta?
From 2023 to 2024, Goleta's violent crime rate increased by 18.3%, and the property crime rate increased by 6.6%.
What is the most common crime in Goleta?
The most common crime type in Goleta is larceny-theft, accounting for 72.5% of all reported crimes (420 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Goleta 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 Goleta, CA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.