The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Chowchilla, CA
Chowchilla is a city of 22,800 in Madera County, about 35 miles northwest of downtown Fresno · Updated November 2026
Is Chowchilla, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Chowchilla is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Chowchilla sits near the middle: 42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Chowchilla run from A+ to D, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 792 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Chowchilla as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Chowchilla scores 792.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Chowchilla, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Chowchilla, 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 in Chowchilla
Aggravated assault stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Chowchilla has 5.9.
The safest and least safe parts of Chowchilla
Most of Chowchilla grades well: 68% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Chowchilla run from A+ to D; 47% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
68%30%
A or B 68%C 30%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Chowchilla, the west side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Chowchilla?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Chowchilla is up 99%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.1 to 6.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 13 to 12 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 34%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ChowchillaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Chowchilla. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Chowchilla
Violent, US
Property, Chowchilla
Property, US
2016
+120%
+4%
+128%
+15%
2017
+58%
+4%
+92%
+12%
2018
+5%
+0%
+23%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
+4%
-34%
-8%
2021
+117%
+6%
-24%
-10%
2022
+199%
+5%
-19%
-6%
2023
+141%
+2%
-13%
-7%
2024
+224%
-4%
-5%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Chowchilla
CrimeGrade™ estimates Chowchilla has about 40 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 7% more than the US as a whole and close to California.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
The largest share of crime reported in Chowchilla is assault, about 31% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Chowchilla
Chowchilla has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Chowchilla, 42% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 26% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (42%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (44%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Theft from cars
Homes (26%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Other places (35%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Chowchilla compares with nearby cities
Chowchilla has less crime than 3 of its 5 nearest cities; only El Nido and Le Grand have less.
Shops, night lighting and walkability in Chowchilla
One thing sets Chowchilla apart: it has 5.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 91% 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.76% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 74% 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 and assault. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (14 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 62% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 67% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Chowchilla: F (1 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 60% 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.5.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 56% 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 crime costs Chowchilla
Crime costs Chowchilla about $2,338 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 94% more than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $46 million a year, or $2,009 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.9 million
$83
Rape
$850,000
$38
Robbery
$340,000
$15
Assault
$4.9 million
$216
Burglary
$710,000
$31
Theft
$940,000
$41
Vehicle theft
$890,000
$39
Arson
$210,000
$9
Vandalism
$1.9 million
$84
Total
$13 million
$556
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Chowchilla means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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.
Schools in Chowchilla, CA average a SchoolGrade of D+: 29% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Chowchilla on SchoolGrade
