Palm Desert, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps

C-

Violent Crime Grade	D
Property Crime Grade	D
Other Crime Grade	B+

Which crimes are included?

$10.9 million

Cost of Crime™ for Palm Desert, CA

In 2025, violent crime will cost $462 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of Palm Desert with the least violent crime and red marks the most, weighted by the type and severity of each offense. Violent crime concentrates where people gather after dark, near nightlife, bars, and transit, more than on residential streets. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read those hot spots.

The D grade reflects how often assault, robbery, rape, and murder occur in Palm Desert against the average US city, where the rate is higher than the norm. Palm Desert sits in the 20th percentile for violent-crime safety, ahead of 20% of cities and behind 80%. The grade covers only Palm Desert's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The violent crime rate in Palm Desert is 4.887 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the northeast part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 122 in the west neighborhoods to 1 in 289 in the northeast.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the east parts of Palm Desert, CA report the most violent crime, about 48 cases per year. The southeast part reports the fewest, around 5 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Palm Desert, CA

The tangible cost of violent crime in Palm Desert is projected at $10,899,781 for 2025, about $214 per resident and $462 per household. That equals 0.4% of the median household income, and it counts only the bills that can be totaled: emergency care, lost wages, and the justice response. The larger cost, the harm to victims, comes later on this page. These tangible costs split into:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 46.3%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 39.6%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 13.9%

How Much Does Violent Crime Cost in Palm Desert Compared to Other Cities?

Palm Desert, CA:	$214
French Camp, CA:	$748
Plumas Lake, CA:	$105
California:	$264
USA:	$258

The tangible cost of violent crime is $214 per resident each year in Palm Desert, which is $44 less than the national average and $50 less than California's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Palm Desert:

In French Camp, CA, crime costs $748 per person, which is $534 more than in Palm Desert.
In Plumas Lake, CA, crime costs $105 per person, which is $109 less than in Palm Desert

2025 Projected Violent Crime Cost by Type

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

Crime	Cost to Palm Desert	Cost per Palm Desert Resident
Murder	$2.83 million	$56
Rape/Sexual Assault	$1.64 million	$32
Robbery	$1.37 million	$27
Assault	$5.07 million	$100
Total Cost of Violent Crime	$10,899,781	$214

The Human Cost of Violent Crime in Palm Desert, CA

Much of what violent crime costs never reaches a bill. Pain, trauma, and lost quality of life for victims and their families typically outweigh the medical and legal totals above. Research-based methods put a figure on that harm so it can be compared across places. By those methods, the human cost of violent crime in Palm Desert totals $28,666,143 ($564 per resident). Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $39,565,925 ($778 per resident). This human toll is what sets violent crime apart from property crime in Palm Desert, CA, where the loss is mostly replaceable property. All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Violent Crime Maps

Violent crime rates are measured per resident, so places packed with visitors after dark read high even when few people live there. Bars, clubs, event venues, and transit hubs draw the crowds where assaults and robberies cluster. How strongly this shows on the map depends on the commercial base; the west part of the city has more retail establishments. A red block full of bars and venues does not mean the homes around it are dangerous.

Transit stations show the same effect: large moving crowds, few residents, so per-capita violent crime reads high. Before judging a residential street, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total count of incidents, and note what draws crowds nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Palm Desert, CA at ISP Reports.

Palm Desert Violent Crime Breakdown

The table below shows which offenses feed the Violent Crime Grade above, each as crimes per 1,000 Palm Desert residents in a standard year.

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Assault	3.470
Robbery	0.8570
Rape	0.5303
Murder	0.0296
Total Violent Crime	4.887 (D)

Individual Palm Desert Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of violent crime in Palm Desert is similar. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to Palm Desert.

Nearby City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Indian Wells, CA	D	D-	D
Rancho Mirage, CA	D+	D	D-
Desert Palms, CA	D+	C	D-
Thousand Palms, CA	C-	D	D
La Quinta, CA	C	C-	D+
Indio, CA	D+	D+	D
Cathedral City, CA	D+	C-	D-
Valerie, CA	D-	F	D-
Coachella, CA	C-	C	D
Vista Santa Rosa, CA	C-	D+	D

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Palm Desert is higher versus other cities of the same size for violent crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Bluffton, SC	C	C+	C+
Campbell, CA	D	C-	C-
Davis, CA	D+	C-	C-
Edina, MN	D	B+	B+
Encinitas, CA	D	D+	D+
Opa-Locka, FL	B-	C+	C+
Morristown, TN	D+	D	D
Portage, MI	B-	C+	C+
Poway, CA	C	C+	C+
Princeton, FL	A-	B-	B-

Considering only the violent crime rate, Palm Desert is as safe as the California state average and less safe than the national average.

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All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.