California Property Crime Rates and Maps

Overall Crime Grade™

Violent Crime Grade	D
Property Crime Grade	D+
Other Crime Grade	A

Which crimes are included?

$7.4 billion

Cost of Crime™ for California

In 2025, property crime will cost $552 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of California with the least property crime and red marks the most, weighted by the type and severity of each offense. Property crime is the most common category of crime, so these maps track closely with where stores, parking, and daytime foot traffic sit. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains why busy commercial blocks can look worse than the neighborhoods around them.

The D+ grade reflects how often theft, burglary, vehicle theft, and arson happen in California against the average US state, where the rate is higher than the norm. California sits in the 25th percentile for property-crime safety, ahead of 25% of states and behind 75%. The grade covers only California's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby states.

The property crime rate in California is 22.52 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally point to the west part of the state as the safest for their belongings. Your odds of a property-crime loss range from 1 in 34 in the south cities to 1 in 59 in the west.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the southeast parts of California report the most property crime, about 300,839 cases per year. The northeast part reports the fewest, around 0 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in California

Property crime in California is projected to cost $7,385,898,066 in 2025, about $183 per resident and $552 per household. That equals 0.4% of the median household income. All of it is measurable loss: replaced vehicles, repaired break-ins, stolen goods, and the policing and courts that respond. Because property crime leaves a repair bill rather than a lasting injury, these tangible costs make up its full economic toll. They split into:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 59.7%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 34.4%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 6.0%

How Much Does Property Crime Cost in California Compared to Other States?

California:	$183
Washington:	$259
New Hampshire:	$64
USA:	$136

Property crime costs $183 per resident each year in California, which is $47 more than the national average. The comparison below uses states similar to California:

In Washington, crime costs $259 per person, which is $76 more than in California.
In New Hampshire, crime costs $64 per person, which is $119 less than in California

2025 Projected Property Crime Cost by Type

The table below breaks the property-crime total into its four offenses for California, with the projected cost per resident.

Crime	Cost to California	Cost per California Resident
Vehicle Theft	$2.9 billion	$72
Burglary	$1.3 billion	$32
Theft	$3.0 billion	$73
Arson	$220.1 million	$5
Total Cost of Property Crime	$7,385,898,066	$183

How the Property Crime Cost Is Estimated

Property crime carries no pain-and-suffering figure in this model. Its cost is the replacement and repair value of what was taken or damaged, plus the policing, courts, and lost offender productivity that follow. Stolen and damaged property has a market price, which is why this total is easier to pin down than the human cost of violent crime in California. All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Property Crime Maps

Property crime rates are measured per resident, so places where shoppers and commuters outnumber residents read high. Stores are where shoplifting, theft, and vehicle break-ins happen, yet almost nobody lives there, so the per-capita rate climbs. How strongly this shows on the map depends on retail density; the southeast part of the state has more retail establishments. A red commercial strip does not mean the homes nearby are unsafe.

Parking lots and transit stops follow the same pattern: heavy daytime traffic, few residents, so per-capita property crime reads high. Major airports, of which California has 13, are the extreme case. To judge a residential block, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in California at ISP Reports.

California Property Crime Breakdown

The table below shows which non-violent crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grade above. All property crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 California residents in a standard year.

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Theft	14.12
Vehicle Theft	4.671
Burglary	3.504
Arson	0.2254
Total Property Crime	22.52 (D+)

Individual California Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby States

Compared to surrounding states, the rate of property crime in California is similar. The table below shows Crime Grades for states close to California.

Nearby State	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Nevada	D	D	D-
Arizona	B-	C	C+
Utah	C-	B	C
Oregon	D-	C+	D-
Idaho	A-	B	A+
New Mexico	F	F	D-
Washington	D-	C	F
Colorado	F	D-	F
Wyoming	B+	A	A
Montana	C-	D+	C-

Crime Maps and Rates for State with Similar Populations

California is higher versus other states of the same size for property crime. The table below compares crime in states with comparable overall population in the state‘s boundaries.

Similar State	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Alaska	C+	F	F
Hawaii	B	A	A
Puerto Rico	F	F	F
Arkansas	D-	D-	D-
Florida	A+	A-	A-
Louisiana	D+	D-	D-
Maine	A	A+	A+
Massachusetts	A+	C+	C+
Minnesota	C	B	B
Montana	C-	D+	D+

Considering only the property crime rate, California is as safe as the national average.

About the Data

CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.

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California Property Crime Rates and Non-Violent Crime Maps

Property Crime per Capita in California