Palm Desert is a city of 52,600 in Riverside County, about 60 miles east of downtown Riverside · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Palm Desert?
Palm Desert earns an A- for property crime, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live. Theft makes up 60% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B, and vehicle theft grades A.
A-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 773 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Palm Desert as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Palm Desert scores 773.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Palm Desert, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Palm Desert, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Palm Desert
Burglary stands out among cities graded A for property crime. For the typical resident of a US city graded A for property crime, the figure is 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Palm Desert has 4.5.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Palm Desert
Most of Palm Desert grades well for property crime: 93% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across Palm Desert run from A+ to C+.
93%
A or B 93%C 7%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Palm Desert?
Reported property crime in Palm Desert has fallen 20% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 35 to 28 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 23%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Palm DesertUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Palm Desert. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Palm Desert
Property, US
2016
+18%
+15%
2017
+14%
+12%
2018
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-12%
-8%
2021
-6%
-10%
2022
+13%
-6%
2023
+4%
-7%
2024
-20%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Palm Desert
CrimeGrade™ estimates Palm Desert has about 37 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 55% more than the US as a whole and 33% more than California.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Palm Desert, about 60% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
The Palm Desert Police Department reports to the FBI in a format that leaves out vandalism, so CrimeGrade™ makes its own vandalism estimate.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Property crime in Palm Desert and nearby cities
Palm Desert has less property crime than 4 of its 8 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Palm Desert. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Palm Desert has more property crime than 62% of them.
Shops, parking lots and walkability in Palm Desert
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Palm Desert apart: it has 25.4 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 3.1 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.25.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 87% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (13 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 65% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 75% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.8.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 74% of US city residents
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 73% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Palm Desert
Property crime costs Palm Desert about $13 million a year, or $248 per resident and about $530 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$2.1 million
$41
Theft
$5.9 million
$113
Vehicle theft
$1.8 million
$35
Arson
$170,000
$3
Vandalism
$3.0 million
$56
Total
$13 million
$248
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
