The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In California


To determine which cities in California are the most dangerous, we compiled data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and sorted each city’s violent crime rate. Violent crimes include: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults.

Violent crime rate is calculated by dividing the total numbers of violent crime by the total population; the result is multiplied by 100,000.

The California sate average for violent crime is 442 per 100,000 people and its state average for property crime is 2,138.9 per 100,000 people.

What Is The Most Dangerous City In California?

The most dangerous city in California is Stockton. In 2019, Stockton had a violent crime rate of 1,396.66 per 100,000 people and a property crime rate of 4,190.30.

Stockton’s violent crime rate is 3.2x greater than the state average. It’s property crime rate is almost twice the state average.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities In California

1. Stockton – 1,396.66 violent crimes per 100k

most dangerous city california stockton

Population in 2019 216,715
Property Crime Rate 4,190.30
Murders in 2019 102
Murder Rate 23.14
Poverty Rate 26.0%

(View our full write-up of Stockton)

 

2. San Bernardino – 1,318.783 violent crimes per 100k

san bernardino most dangerous citities california

(map)

Population in 2019 216,715
Property Crime Rate 4,190.30
Murders in 2019 45
Murder Rate

21.23

Poverty Rate 26.0%

(View our full write-up of San Bernardino)

 

3. Susanville – 1,317.381 violent crimes per 100k

susanville most dangerous cities in california

(map)

Population in 2019 14,878
Property Crime Rate 1,391.32
Murders in 2019 0
Murder Rate 0
Poverty Rate 18.9%

 

4. Oakland, California – 1,271.784 violent crimes per 100k

oakland most dangerous city

(map)

Population in 2019 440,646
Property Crime Rate 6,420.67
Murders in 2019 78
Murder Rate 17.97
Poverty Rate 16.7%

(View our full write-up of Oakland)

 

5. Dos Palos – 1,144.083 violent crimes per 100k

most dangerous cities in california dos palos

(map)

Population in 2019 5,594
Property Crime Rate 3,021.09
Murders in 2019 0
Murder Rate 0
Poverty Rate 14.7%

 

6. Compton – 1290.87 violent crimes per 100k

compton most dangerous citiies california

(map)

Population in 2019 96,638
Property Crime Rate 2,427.62
Murders in 2019 18
Murder Rate 18.63
Poverty Rate 20.5%

(View our full write-up of Compton)

 

7. Barstow – 1,135.940 violent crimes per 100k

barstow most dangerous cities california

(map)

Population in 2019 24,121
Property Crime Rate 2,427.62
Murders in 2019 5
Murder Rate 20.73
Poverty Rate 35.3%

(View our full write-up of Barstow)

 

8. Huron – 1,127.871 violent crimes per 100k

huron most dangerous cities california

(map)

Population in 2019 7,359
Property Crime Rate 760.97
Murders in 2019 0
Murder Rate 0
Poverty Rate 45.7%

 

9. Commerce – 1,077.788 violent crimes per 100k

most dangerous city california commerce

(map)

Population in 2019 12,804
Property Crime Rate 7,841.30
Murders in 2019 1
Murder Rate

7.81

Poverty Rate 14.8%

 

10. Richmond – 931.632 violent crimes per 100k

richmond most dangerous cities us

Population in 2019 110,988
Property Crime Rate

3,773.38

Murders in 2019 16
Murder Rate

14.42

Poverty Rate 14.7%

 

The Most Dangerous Cities In California VS The Safest City In California

Here’s a graph showing you the violent crime rates of the top 10 most dangerous cities in California and we also included the safest city in California, Irvine, to give you some perspective on the contrast in crime rates.

the most dangerous cities in california graph

 

City

Population

Violent Crime Rate

Property Crime Rate

Stockton

313,604

1,396.666

3,943.51

San Bernardino

216,715

1,318.783

4,190.30

Susanville

14,878

1,317.381

1,391.32

Oakland

434,036

1,271.784

6,420.67

Dos Palos

5,594

1,144.083

3,021.09

Compton

96,638

1,142.408

2,427.62

Barstow

24,121

1,135.940

4,087.72

Huron

7,359

1,127.871

760.97

Commerce

12,804

1,077.788

7,841.30

Richmond 110,988

931.632

3,773.38

 

Top 10 Most Dangerous Small-Sized Cities In California (Up To 50,000 People)

most dangerous cities california emeryville

City

Population

Violent Crime Rate

1. Emeryville

12,380

1,340.87

2. Susanville

14,878

1,317.38

3. Weed

2,673

1,271.98

4. Dos Palos

5,594

1,144.08

5. Barstow

24,121

1,135.94

6. Huron

7,359

1,127.87

7. Commerce

12,804

1,077.79

8. Red Bluff

14,308

929.55

9. Marysville

12,572

922.69

10. Arvin

21,811

898.63

 

Top 10 Most Dangerous Medim-Sized Cities In California (50,000-200,000 People)

lancaster most dangerous cities us

City

Population

Violent Crime Rate

1. Compton

96,638

1,142.41

2. Richmond

110,988

931.63

3. Lancaster

159,335

852.92

4. Vallejo

122,657

845.45

5. Victorville

123,089

802.67

6. Huntington Park

58,181

787.20

7. Hawthorne

87,305

728.48

8. Santa Monica

91,621

724.72

9. South Gate

94,445

658.58

10. Highland

55,686

650.07

 

Top 10 Most Dangerous Large Cities In California (200,000+ people)

modesto most dangerous cities us

City

Population

Violent Crime Rate

1. Stockton

313,604

1,396.67

2. San Bernardino

216,715

1,318.78

3. Oakland

434,036

1,271.78

4. Modesto

216,542

811.85

5. Los Angeles

4,015,546

732.15

6. San Francisco

886,007

669.63

7. Sacramento

513,934

627.12

8. Long Beach

467,974

506.22

9. Riverside

333,260

505.91

10. Bakersfield 388,080

455.06

You might also be interested in these other states:

most dangerous cities in florida

most dangerous cities in texas

most dangerous cities in louisiana

the most dangerous cities in the united states

Mariska Lee

Mariska is a recovering attorney who gave up her professional job to discover new perspectives of life while traveling in a 2009 Ford Transit. She has been living the van life for 3 years and has not looked back since.

Recent Posts