South Lake Tahoe, CA carries a PlainCrime F safety grade with violent crime 123% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, South Lake Tahoe, CA shows violent crime at 785.5 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,461.6 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 123% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
785.5/100K violent
1461.6/100K property
+123% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for South Lake Tahoe, CA
Position in the state cohort
South Lake Tahoe reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable California cities
At 785.5 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, South Lake Tahoe ranks 36 of 458 — above 422 of the 457 other California cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +139.1% 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 498.1 per 100,000 in 2020 to 785.5 in 2024 (+57.7%). The highest observed value was 785.5 in 2024 and the lowest 498.1 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Comparable rate records
South Lake Tahoe's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the California cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to South Lake Tahoe's 785.5 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Merced (784.8), Santa Monica (778.0), Huron (769.5), Sacramento (754.9). 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.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 35.0% of the 472 Part I offenses reported in South Lake Tahoe for 2024, against a median of 17.1% across comparable California cities — a gap of 17.9 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 79.5% of reported property offenses in South Lake Tahoe, against a cohort median of 69.5%. The remainder is burglary (40) and motor vehicle theft (23). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Property counts dominate South Lake Tahoe'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.
South Lake Tahoe's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 10.1 Census sq mi, South Lake Tahoe logged 30.5 property and 16.4 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
South Lake Tahoe leans on larceny-theft at 52% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 3,702.
Violent offenses are 35% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (10.1 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
+17.6%
667.7 → 785.5/100K
Property Crime Rate
+1.9%
1434.9 → 1461.6/100K
Property offenses lead South Lake Tahoe's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs CA
Property Crime
307
1461.6
1985.9
Larceny-Theft
244
1161.6
-
Burglary
40
190.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
23
109.5
-
Arson
10
47.6
-
Violent Crime
165
785.5
476.8
Aggravated Assault
143
680.8
-
Rape
13
61.9
-
Robbery
9
42.8
-
Murder
0
0
-
South Lake Tahoe 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.
South Lake Tahoe 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
South Lake Tahoe Police Department
Reporting agency for South Lake Tahoe NIBRS-participating
South Lake Tahoe Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind South Lake Tahoe's 472 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 South Lake Tahoe in population. Their populations run from 20,534 to 21,897, against 21,005 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
South Lake Tahoe at 785.5/100K violent and 1,461.6/100K property - matched below outside California (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
How many crimes were reported in South Lake Tahoe?
In 2024, South Lake Tahoe reported 165 violent crimes and 307 property crimes, for a total of 472 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in South Lake Tahoe?
From 2023 to 2024, South Lake Tahoe's violent crime rate increased by 17.6%, and the property crime rate increased by 1.9%.
What is the most common crime in South Lake Tahoe?
The most common crime type in South Lake Tahoe is larceny-theft, accounting for 51.7% of all reported crimes (244 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe, CA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.