Wasco is a city of 27,800 in Kern County, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Bakersfield · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Wasco?
Wasco grades B+ for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 72% of Americans live. Assaults make up 90% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 720 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Wasco as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Wasco scores 720.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Wasco, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Wasco, 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 violent crime in Wasco
Aggravated assaults run high. Wasco has aggravated assaults at about double the US rate: 5.5 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Wasco
Areas graded C for violent crime are home to 59% of residents in Wasco; 29% live in areas graded A or B and 12% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Wasco run from A+ to D.
29%59%12%
A or B 29%C 59%D or F 12%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Violent crime rates and types in Wasco
CrimeGrade™ estimates Wasco has about 14 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 8% more than the US as a whole and 20% more than California.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Wasco, about 90% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
The Wasco Police Department's 2024 report to the FBI was missing some months of aggravated assault and simple assault; CrimeGrade™ filled them in from the department's own monthly pattern.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Violent crime in Wasco and nearby cities
Of the 6 cities closest to Wasco, 4 have less violent crime. Lost Hills and Buttonwillow have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Wasco apart: it has 26 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 39% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few jobs tend to report less robbery, yet robbery runs higher here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.26 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 77% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.39% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% 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 assault. 75% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 59% of US city residents
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Wasco: F (2 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 59% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Wasco on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 violent crime costs Wasco
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Wasco about $68 million a year, or $2,428 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $13 million, or $451 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 81% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.1 million
$182
Rape
$910,000
$33
Robbery
$710,000
$26
Assault
$5.9 million
$211
Total
$13 million
$451
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
