Morro Bay, CA carries a PlainCrime B safety grade with violent crime 16% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Morro Bay, CA shows violent crime at 294.3 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 788.1 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 16% 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
294.3/100K violent
788.1/100K property
-16% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Morro Bay, CA
Comparable rate records
Morro Bay's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the California cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Morro Bay's 294.3 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Rancho Cucamonga (293.7), West Sacramento (293.6), Vacaville (293.2), Daly City (296.3). 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 434.9 per 100,000 in 2020 to 294.3 in 2024 (-32.3%). The highest observed value was 508.9 in 2022 and the lowest 294.3 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 27.2% of the 114 Part I offenses reported in Morro Bay for 2024, against a median of 17.1% across comparable California cities — a gap of 10.1 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 89.2% of reported property offenses in Morro Bay, against a cohort median of 69.5%. The remainder is burglary (4) and motor vehicle theft (5). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Morro Bay sits mid-pack among comparable California cities
At 294.3 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Morro Bay ranks 257 of 458 — above 201 of the 457 other California cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -11.6% 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.
Property counts dominate Morro Bay'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.
Morro Bay's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 5.3 Census sq mi, Morro Bay logged 15.5 property and 5.8 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Morro Bay's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (65% of 114 offenses; mix index 4,671).
Violent offenses are 27% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (5.3 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
-15.9%
937.3 → 788.1/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-1.9%
299.9 → 294.3/100K
Property offenses lead Morro Bay's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs CA
Property Crime
83
788.1
1985.9
Larceny-Theft
74
702.6
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
5
47.5
-
Burglary
4
38
-
Arson
4
38
-
Violent Crime
31
294.3
476.8
Aggravated Assault
22
208.9
-
Rape
7
66.5
-
Robbery
2
19
-
Murder
0
0
-
Morro Bay 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.
Morro Bay 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
Morro Bay Police Department
Reporting agency for Morro Bay NIBRS-participating
Morro Bay Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Morro Bay's 114 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 Morro Bay in population. Their populations run from 10,192 to 10,728, against 10,532 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Morro Bay at 294.3/100K violent and 788.1/100K property - matched below outside California (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Morro Bay reported 31 violent crimes and 83 property crimes, for a total of 114 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Morro Bay?
From 2023 to 2024, Morro Bay's violent crime rate decreased by 1.9%, and the property crime rate decreased by 15.9%.
What is the most common crime in Morro Bay?
The most common crime type in Morro Bay is larceny-theft, accounting for 64.9% of all reported crimes (74 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Morro Bay 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 Morro Bay, CA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.