Crime Trends in California

The 2023 and 2024 crime statistics presented here have been adjusted for reporting errors by the Oakland Police Department and Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department as well as incomplete reporting by several agencies.

California's violent crime rate decreased in 2024 but remains above pre-pandemic levels.

• For the first year since the pandemic, California's overall violent crime rate decreased, from 508 crimes per 100,000 residents in 2023 to 481 in 2024 (a 5.3% drop). Like the rest of the nation, California saw a jump in violent crime after the pandemic. The violent crime rate is still up by 9.8% compared to 2019.
• In 2024, homicides and rapes decreased by 13.5% and 1.2%, respectively. Robbery (theft with force) and aggravated assault also decreased by 7.5% and 4.8%, respectively. While assaults are down 4.8% compared to 2023, they are 22% above their pre-pandemic level.
• The state's violent crime rate has fluctuated over time. From 1960 to 1980, rates spiked from 236 to 888 violent crimes per 100,000 residents; after dipping in the early 1980s, rates climbed to a peak of 1,115 per 100,000 residents in 1992. Violent crime then fell steadily, reaching a 50-year low of 391 in 2014, after which it trended upward until 2024.

Homicides and some other violent crimes have been declining after a notable pandemic surge.

• California's homicide rate jumped by 42.5% between 2019 and 2021; it is now down 29.4% since 2021 but is 0.3% higher than in 2019. Aggravated assaults decreased in 2024 after increasing during the pandemic, but the rate is still up 22.0% compared to 2019.
• Aggravated assaults that involve guns surged by 65.7% between 2019 and 2021. Since 2021, rates have declined (by 19.5%) but remain 33.6% above 2019 levels. The share of aggravated assaults that involve a firearm decreased from 20.4% in 2023 to 18.4% in 2024. Robberies involving a firearm are 13.9% lower in 2024 compared to 2019, and the share of robberies that involve firearms has declined from 23.8% in 2019 to 22.9% in 2024.

Property crime fell in 2024, and most categories are below pre-pandemic levels.

• The 2024 property crime rate is 2,084 per 100,000 residents, a 9.9% decrease from 2023 and its lowest level since 1985. Of all reported property crimes in California in 2023, 65% were larceny thefts, 15% were burglaries, and 20% were auto thefts.
• Larceny (theft without force) and burglary (entering a residential or commercial structure with the intent to steal) decreased by 7.1% and 11.8%, respectively, in 2024 and are 14.1% and 20.3% below their 2019 levels.
• Auto theft decreased by 16.7% in 2024 but is still 19.3% higher than it was in 2019. Shoplifting continued to surge, rising by 14.2% in 2024; the rate is 48.0% higher than in 2019. Commercial burglaries decreased by 12.5% in 2024 and are now 6.2% below the pre-pandemic level. Theft of car accessories-including catalytic converters-fell by 27.0%, the second decrease since 2020; this rate is 11.2% higher than in 2019.