Safest Places to Live in California of October 2024

Last Update: March 11, 2023 • Living •

California, the most populous US state, is home to almost 40,000,000 people. That is approximately 1/8 of the American population. Whenever we hear ‘West Coast,’ we instantaneously imagine Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, surfers, parties, the unforgettable spirit and laid-back lifestyle of San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, the hospitality of San Jose and San Diego residents, and much more. Images rush through our minds as we picture ourselves at one of those places and surround by the positive vibes of Californians.

However, it is a dream state of many US residents. California has its problems that are not to be underestimated. The fact that it has some of the largest cities in the US presents the other side of the coin ‒ safety problems and crime rate.

Ranking Criteria

ElitePersonalFinance extracted the latest data from the FBI crime statistics in the United States. We took violent crime as the main criteria. To get our score, we used this formula:

Crime Score = ( Total Number of Violent Crimes / Population ) * 1,000

This way, safer cities got the lowest score, and those more vulnerable to crimes got higher scores.

The cities that did not report crimes to the FBI and those under 10,000 residents were not included in the list.

50 Safest Places in California of October 2024

Rank:	City:	Population:	Total Number of Crimes:	Crime Score:
1	Clayton	12 356	1	0,08
2	Lafayette	26 872	4	0,15
3	Imperial	18 090	5	0,28
4	Palos Verdes Estates	13 400	4	0,30
5	Coronado	21 115	9	0,43
6	Hillsborough	11 521	5	0,43
7	Laguna Woods	16 043	7	0,44
8	Los Gatos	30 793	14	0,45
9	Danville	44 997	23	0,51
10	Aliso Viejo	52 247	27	0,52
11	Los Alamitos	11 541	6	0,52
12	Saratoga	30 666	16	0,52
13	Benicia	28 471	16	0,56
14	Yorba Linda	68 225	42	0,62
15	Rancho Santa Margarita	48 377	30	0,62
16	Irvine	292 673	188	0,64
17	Laguna Niguel	66 671	43	0,64
18	Lincoln	48 625	32	0,66
19	Murrieta	116 413	77	0,66
20	Mission Viejo	95 453	65	0,68
21	Los Altos	30 716	21	0,68
22	Thousand Oaks	127 811	88	0,69
23	Rancho Palos Verdes	41 961	29	0,69
24	Moorpark	36 826	26	0,71
25	La Canada Flintridge	20 223	15	0,74
26	San Ramon	76 387	58	0,76
27	Lake Forest	86 691	66	0,76
28	Seal Beach	24 120	19	0,79
29	Ripon	16 103	13	0,81
30	Carpinteria	13 514	11	0,81
31	Paradise	26 879	22	0,82
32	Camarillo	69 628	58	0,83
33	Orinda	20 071	17	0,85
34	Pacific Grove	15 605	14	0,90
35	Cupertino	60 357	55	0,91
36	Central Marin	34 793	32	0,92
37	Fountain Valley	55 858	53	0,95
38	Grover Beach	13 574	13	0,96
39	Riverbank	25 045	24	0,96
40	Solana Beach	13 440	13	0,97
41	Rocklin	68 554	67	0,98
42	Poway	49 928	51	1,02
43	Agoura Hills	20 490	21	1,02
44	Folsom	79 927	82	1,03
45	Laguna Hills	31 123	32	1,03
46	Cypress	49 085	52	1,06
47	San Marino	13 196	14	1,06
48	La Palma	15 571	17	1,09
49	Scotts Valley	11 875	13	1,09
50	Chino Hills	84 577	95	1,12

Crime Score in All Cities in California of October 2024

If your city didn’t make our list, you could see our full list of California cities.

We can’t compare crime rates in small and large cities. That’s why ElitePersonalFinance made a detailed analysis and divided all places in California into the following categories:

Under 3,000 Residents
3,000 – 10,000 Residents
10,000 – 30,000 Residents
30,000 – 100,000 Residents
Over 100,000 Residents

(Other sites don’t include places with under 3,000 residents, but we included them.)

These are the results that we got:

Under 3,000 Residents

Rank:	City:	Population:	Total Number of Crimes:	Crime Score:
1	Belvedere	2 114	1	0,47
2	Hidden Hills	1 903	1	0,53
3	Rolling Hills	1 868	1	0,54
4	Ross	2 470	2	0,81
5	Bradbury	1 089	1	0,92
6	Sutter Creek	2 624	3	1,14
7	Lake Shastina	2 566	3	1,17
8	Yountville	2 988	5	1,67
9	Biggs	1 726	3	1,74
10	Stallion Springs	2 648	7	2,64
11	Etna	716	2	2,79
12	Fort Jones	690	2	2,90
13	Ferndale	1 363	4	2,93
14	Tulelake	985	3	3,05
15	Alturas	2 471	10	4,05
16	Del Rey Oaks	1 674	7	4,18
17	Dorris	897	4	4,46
18	Montague	1 399	8	5,72
19	Isleton	849	7	8,24
20	Dunsmuir	1 564	14	8,95
21	Weed	2 673	34	12,72
22	Irwindale	1 469	26	17,70
23	Colma	1 512	28	18,52
24	Sand City	407	9	22,11
25	Vernon	112	27	241,07
26	Industry	201	72	358,21

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

Rank:	City:	Population:	Total Number of Crimes:	Crime Score:
1	Monte Sereno	3 507	0	0,00
2	Tiburon	9 135	0	0,00
3	Los Altos Hills	8 622	3	0,35
4	Buellton	5 142	3	0,58
5	Hughson	7 671	5	0,65
6	Villa Park	5 840	4	0,68
7	La Habra Heights	5 357	4	0,75
8	Kensington	5 407	5	0,92
9	Sausalito	7 118	7	0,98
10	Colusa	5 903	6	1,02
11	Ojai	7 499	8	1,07
12	Calistoga	5 341	6	1,12
13	Rio Vista	9 502	11	1,16
14	Fairfax	7 569	9	1,19
15	Rolling Hills Estates	8 151	10	1,23
16	Ione	8 454	11	1,30
17	Firebaugh	8 433	11	1,30
18	Waterford	9 021	13	1,44
19	Winters	7 374	11	1,49
20	Wheatland	3 940	6	1,52
21	Angels Camp	3 909	6	1,53
22	Westlake Village	8 358	13	1,56
23	Del Mar	4 369	7	1,60
24	Atherton	7 222	12	1,66
25	Solvang	5 962	10	1,68
26	Cloverdale	8 910	16	1,80
27	Orange Cove	9 635	18	1,87
28	St. Helena	6 195	12	1,94
29	Guadalupe	7 696	15	1,95
30	Bear Valley	5 507	11	2,00
31	Gonzales	8 408	17	2,02
32	Holtville	6 774	14	2,07
33	Escalon	7 644	16	2,09
34	Brisbane	4 746	10	2,11
35	Indian Wells	5 500	13	2,36
36	Calimesa	9 073	22	2,42
37	Broadmoor	4 446	11	2,47
38	Avalon	3 722	10	2,69
39	Sebastopol	7 815	21	2,69
40	Carmel	3 877	11	2,84
41	Willits	4 937	16	3,24
42	Rio Dell	3 392	11	3,24
43	Crescent City	6 716	23	3,42
44	Pismo Beach	8 285	29	3,50
45	Gustine	5 896	21	3,56
46	Woodlake	7 682	28	3,64
47	Mount Shasta	3 274	12	3,67
48	Corning	7 537	28	3,72
49	Yreka	7 527	28	3,72
50	Williams	5 348	20	3,74
51	Fowler	6 904	29	4,20
52	Orland	7 679	33	4,30
53	Fort Bragg	7 366	32	4,34
54	Gridley	6 618	29	4,38
55	Nevada City	3 150	15	4,76
56	Mammoth Lakes	8 114	42	5,18
57	Cotati	7 641	40	5,23
58	Sonora	4 867	26	5,34
59	Jackson	4 797	30	6,25
60	Lakeport	4 959	34	6,86
61	Taft	9 413	67	7,12
62	Bishop	3 731	34	9,11
63	Huron	7 359	83	11,28
64	Dos Palos	5 594	64	11,44
65	Needles	5 001	71	14,20
66	Big Bear	5 311	76	14,31

10,000 – 30,000 Residents

Rank:	City:	Population:	Total Number of Crimes:	Crime Score:
1	Clayton	12 356	1	0,08
2	Lafayette	26 872	4	0,15
3	Imperial	18 090	5	0,28
4	Palos Verdes Estates	13 400	4	0,30
5	Coronado	21 115	9	0,43
6	Hillsborough	11 521	5	0,43
7	Laguna Woods	16 043	7	0,44
8	Los Alamitos	11 541	6	0,52
9	Benicia	28 471	16	0,56
10	La Canada Flintridge	20 223	15	0,74
11	Seal Beach	24 120	19	0,79
12	Ripon	16 103	13	0,81
13	Carpinteria	13 514	11	0,81
14	Paradise	26 879	22	0,82
15	Orinda	20 071	17	0,85
16	Pacific Grove	15 605	14	0,90
17	Grover Beach	13 574	13	0,96
18	Riverbank	25 045	24	0,96
19	Solana Beach	13 440	13	0,97
20	Agoura Hills	20 490	21	1,02
21	San Marino	13 196	14	1,06
22	La Palma	15 571	17	1,09
23	Scotts Valley	11 875	13	1,09
24	South Pasadena	25 612	29	1,13
25	Hercules	25 789	31	1,20
26	Piedmont	11 307	14	1,24
27	Fillmore	15 911	20	1,26
28	Moraga	17 908	23	1,28
29	Canyon Lake	11 353	15	1,32
30	King City	14 170	19	1,34
31	Newman	11 844	16	1,35
32	Sierra Madre	10 917	15	1,37
33	Healdsburg	12 208	17	1,39
34	Mill Valley	14 343	20	1,39
35	Calabasas	24 016	35	1,46
36	Arroyo Grande	18 188	27	1,48
37	Kingsburg	12 123	18	1,48
38	Kerman	15 223	23	1,51
39	Belmont	27 272	45	1,65
40	Laguna Beach	23 020	38	1,65
41	Oakdale	23 808	40	1,68
42	Norco	26 557	49	1,85
43	Truckee	16 611	31	1,87
44	Marina	22 911	43	1,88
45	Port Hueneme	22 232	43	1,93
46	Morro Bay	10 624	21	1,98
47	Albany	20 083	40	1,99
48	Patterson	22 584	46	2,04
49	Soledad	26 015	53	2,04
50	Windsor	27 981	58	2,07
51	Chowchilla	18 792	39	2,08
52	Fortuna	12 317	28	2,27
53	Rancho Mirage	18 481	45	2,43
54	Exeter	10 557	26	2,46
55	Coalinga	16 356	41	2,51
56	Duarte	21 550	55	2,55
57	Shafter	20 456	53	2,59
58	American Canyon	20 452	53	2,59
59	Dixon	20 775	54	2,60
60	Imperial Beach	27 583	72	2,61
61	Hermosa Beach	19 460	51	2,62
62	Livingston	14 607	40	2,74
63	Monterey	28 337	78	2,75
64	Galt	26 796	77	2,87
65	Grand Terrace	12 651	37	2,92
66	Capitola	10 101	30	2,97
67	Greenfield	17 809	54	3,03
68	Pinole	19 439	59	3,04
69	Loma Linda	24 512	77	3,14
70	Farmersville	10 781	35	3,25
71	San Fernando	24 621	80	3,25
72	Lomita	20 553	67	3,26
73	Maywood	27 286	90	3,30
74	Sonoma	11 323	38	3,36
75	Selma	24 983	85	3,40
76	Malibu	12 794	44	3,44
77	Placerville	11 123	39	3,51
78	Auburn	14 201	50	3,52
79	Cudahy	23 828	89	3,74
80	Suisun City	29 922	114	3,81
81	Arcata	18 332	72	3,93
82	Parlier	15 384	62	4,03
83	Artesia	16 779	72	4,29
84	McFarland	15 529	67	4,31
85	Twentynine Palms	26 588	117	4,40
86	Reedley	25 740	117	4,55
87	Brawley	26 379	121	4,59
88	Blythe	19 889	92	4,63
89	Lemoore	26 728	126	4,71
90	East Palo Alto	29 686	144	4,85
91	Ridgecrest	29 101	142	4,88
92	South El Monte	20 852	102	4,89
93	El Segundo	16 727	82	4,90
94	Tehachapi	12 211	60	4,91
95	South Lake Tahoe	22 116	111	5,02
96	Lindsay	13 708	69	5,03
97	Hawaiian Gardens	14 320	76	5,31
98	Avenal	12 991	69	5,31
99	Corcoran	21 353	118	5,53
100	Grass Valley	12 919	73	5,65
101	Anderson	10 545	61	5,78
102	California City	14 319	83	5,80
103	Santa Fe Springs	18 041	105	5,82
104	El Cerrito	25 857	152	5,88
105	Sanger	25 443	156	6,13
106	Lemon Grove	27 175	167	6,15
107	Oroville	19 268	122	6,33
108	Dinuba	24 685	161	6,52
109	Ukiah	16 197	110	6,79
110	Atwater	29 632	206	6,95
111	Eureka	26 973	195	7,23
112	Mendota	11 433	83	7,26
113	Yucca Valley	21 858	160	7,32
114	Clearlake	15 400	119	7,73
115	Signal Hill	11 624	95	8,17
116	Desert Hot Springs	29 107	255	8,76
117	Arvin	21 811	196	8,99
118	Marysville	12 572	116	9,23
119	Red Bluff	14 308	133	9,30
120	Commerce	12 804	138	10,78
121	Barstow	24 121	274	11,36
122	Susanville	14 878	196	13,17
123	Emeryville	12 380	166	13,41

30,000 – 100,000 Residents

Rank:	City:	Population:	Total Number of Crimes:	Crime Score:
1	Los Gatos	30 793	14	0,45
2	Danville	44 997	23	0,51
3	Aliso Viejo	52 247	27	0,52
4	Saratoga	30 666	16	0,52
5	Yorba Linda	68 225	42	0,62
6	Rancho Santa Margarita	48 377	30	0,62
7	Laguna Niguel	66 671	43	0,64
8	Lincoln	48 625	32	0,66
9	Mission Viejo	95 453	65	0,68
10	Los Altos	30 716	21	0,68
11	Rancho Palos Verdes	41 961	29	0,69
12	Moorpark	36 826	26	0,71
13	San Ramon	76 387	58	0,76
14	Lake Forest	86 691	66	0,76
15	Camarillo	69 628	58	0,83
16	Cupertino	60 357	55	0,91
17	Central Marin	34 793	32	0,92
18	Fountain Valley	55 858	53	0,95
19	Rocklin	68 554	67	0,98
20	Poway	49 928	51	1,02
21	Folsom	79 927	82	1,03
22	Laguna Hills	31 123	32	1,03
23	Cypress	49 085	52	1,06
24	Chino Hills	84 577	95	1,12
25	Foster City	34 624	39	1,13
26	Morgan Hill	46 118	52	1,13
27	Monrovia	36 730	43	1,17
28	Oakley	43 014	51	1,19
29	Milpitas	82 344	102	1,24
30	Eastvale	66 310	83	1,25
31	Walnut	30 108	38	1,26
32	Diamond Bar	56 364	72	1,28
33	Palo Alto	66 938	86	1,28
34	Goleta	30 930	40	1,29
35	Pleasanton	84 017	112	1,33
36	San Clemente	65 018	87	1,34
37	Encinitas	63 320	86	1,36
38	Claremont	36 681	51	1,39
39	Arcadia	58 899	84	1,43
40	Menlo Park	34 871	50	1,43
41	Menifee	94 595	145	1,53
42	Davis	69 767	107	1,53
43	Dana Point	33 779	52	1,54
44	Manhattan Beach	35 583	55	1,55
45	La Verne	32 344	51	1,58
46	Newport Beach	85 325	135	1,58
47	Wildomar	37 939	61	1,61
48	La Quinta	42 044	68	1,62
49	Dublin	66 072	107	1,62
50	Paso Robles	32 528	53	1,63
51	Brea	44 155	72	1,63
52	Santee	58 701	98	1,67
53	Walnut Creek	70 546	120	1,70
54	Newark	48 945	85	1,74
55	San Juan Capistrano	36 209	63	1,74
56	Tustin	80 356	141	1,75
57	La Mirada	48 702	86	1,77
58	Temple City	36 192	64	1,77
59	Tracy	92 895	166	1,79
60	Beaumont	50 990	92	1,80
61	Alhambra	84 837	161	1,90
62	Mountain View	84 599	165	1,95
63	San Marcos	98 598	193	1,96
64	Pacifica	38 938	79	2,03
65	Alameda	78 907	162	2,05
66	Campbell	42 697	89	2,08
67	Monterey Park	60 424	126	2,09
68	Livermore	91 418	193	2,11
69	Atascadero	30 579	65	2,13
70	Martinez	38 692	83	2,15
71	Redwood City	87 427	189	2,16
72	San Jacinto	49 452	108	2,18
73	La Habra	62 416	140	2,24
74	San Dimas	34 059	78	2,29
75	Seaside	34 036	78	2,29
76	Calexico	40 327	94	2,33
77	Redondo Beach	67 473	160	2,37
78	Manteca	83 523	199	2,38
79	Burlingame	30 677	74	2,41
80	San Gabriel	40 422	98	2,42
81	South San Francisco	68 251	166	2,43
82	Lake Elsinore	70 262	173	2,46
83	Whittier	86 158	213	2,47
84	Baldwin Park	75 862	188	2,48
85	Stanton	38 276	95	2,48
86	Pleasant Hill	35 125	88	2,51
87	Cerritos	50 642	127	2,51
88	Palm Desert	53 776	136	2,53
89	Brentwood	65 483	166	2,54
90	Cathedral City	55 346	144	2,60
91	Novato	56 134	148	2,64
92	Coachella	46 485	126	2,71
93	Lakewood	80 151	222	2,77
94	Hollister	40 399	114	2,82
95	Montebello	62 650	178	2,84
96	Westminster	91 086	259	2,84
97	Azusa	50 405	144	2,86
98	La Mesa	59 865	174	2,91
99	Rancho Cordova	75 869	225	2,97
100	Glendora	52 211	155	2,97
101	Buena Park	82 627	246	2,98
102	Beverly Hills	34 211	103	3,01
103	Santa Paula	30 098	91	3,02
104	Petaluma	62 425	190	3,04
105	San Bruno	43 297	138	3,19
106	Porterville	60 209	192	3,19
107	Rosemead	54 489	175	3,21
108	El Centro	44 303	143	3,23
109	Perris	80 500	262	3,25
110	Bell Gardens	42 366	147	3,47
111	Lodi	67 612	237	3,51
112	Napa	79 526	280	3,52
113	Los Banos	40 607	143	3,52
114	Chino	93 348	329	3,52
115	Citrus Heights	88 496	313	3,54
116	Covina	47 985	171	3,56
117	Redlands	71 941	257	3,57
118	Yuba City	67 164	241	3,59
119	Woodland	61 176	224	3,66
120	Union City	75 202	277	3,68
121	Yucaipa	53 964	200	3,71
122	Placentia	51 756	192	3,71
123	Pico Rivera	62 880	234	3,72
124	La Puente	39 916	151	3,78
125	Lawndale	32 751	125	3,82
126	Upland	77 398	298	3,85
127	Delano	53 002	205	3,87
128	West Sacramento	54 372	212	3,90
129	Colton	55 059	215	3,90
130	San Rafael	58 819	230	3,91
131	Hemet	86 082	343	3,98
132	Tulare	65 134	261	4,01
133	San Luis Obispo	47 735	192	4,02
134	Gilroy	60 106	251	4,18
135	Bellflower	77 196	327	4,24
136	Ceres	49 134	209	4,25
137	Banning	31 450

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Safest Places to Live in California of October 2024

Ranking Criteria

50 Safest Places in California of October 2024

Crime Score in All Cities in California of October 2024

Under 3,000 Residents

3,000 – 10,000 Residents

10,000 – 30,000 Residents

30,000 – 100,000 Residents