Monterey, CA carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 9% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Monterey, CA shows violent crime at 382.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,781.7 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 9% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade C from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
C safety grade
382.1/100K violent
1781.7/100K property
+9% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Monterey, CA
Comparable rate records
Monterey's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the California cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Monterey's 382.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Auburn (381.8), Newark (380.9), Porterville (384.8), Bell Gardens (388.1). 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 340.3 per 100,000 in 2020 to 382.1 in 2024 (+12.3%). The highest observed value was 457.8 in 2023 and the lowest 340.3 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 79.3% of reported property offenses in Monterey, against a cohort median of 69.5%. The remainder is burglary (79) and motor vehicle theft (27). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Monterey sits mid-pack among comparable California cities
At 382.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Monterey ranks 201 of 458 — above 257 of the 457 other California cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +16.3% 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.
Property counts dominate Monterey'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.
Monterey's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 8.6 Census sq mi, Monterey logged 59.3 property and 12.7 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Monterey's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (65% of 623 offenses; mix index 4,603).
Violent offenses are 18% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (8.6 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-16.5%
457.8 → 382.1/100K
Property Crime Rate
-3.4%
1845 → 1781.7/100K
Property offenses lead Monterey's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs CA
Property Crime
513
1781.7
1985.9
Larceny-Theft
407
1413.6
-
Burglary
79
274.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
27
93.8
-
Arson
6
20.8
-
Violent Crime
110
382.1
476.8
Aggravated Assault
73
253.5
-
Rape
19
66
-
Robbery
18
62.5
-
Murder
0
0
-
Monterey 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.
Monterey 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
Monterey Police Department
Reporting agency for Monterey NIBRS-participating
Monterey Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Monterey's 623 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 Monterey in population. Their populations run from 28,110 to 29,551, against 28,792 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Monterey at 382.1/100K violent and 1,781.7/100K property - matched below outside California (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Monterey reported 110 violent crimes and 513 property crimes, for a total of 623 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Monterey?
From 2023 to 2024, Monterey's violent crime rate decreased by 16.5%, and the property crime rate decreased by 3.4%.
What is the most common crime in Monterey?
The most common crime type in Monterey is larceny-theft, accounting for 65.3% of all reported crimes (407 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Monterey 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 Monterey, CA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.