What are property crime trends in California?

According to ppic.org, property crime trends in California are as follows:

The statewide property crime rate declined in 2020.

The 2020 property crime rate of 2,071 per 100,000 residents was down 8.9% from 2019, the lowest observed since 1960. California’s property crime rate was above the national rate (1,958 per 100,000 residents) and ranked 18th among all states.

Larceny dropped sharply in 2020, by 18.4%, and burglary decreased by 4.9%; but motor vehicle theft jumped by 18.4%. Of all reported property crimes in California in 2020, 63% were larceny thefts, 17% were burglaries, and 20% were auto thefts.

Crime rates vary dramatically by region and category.

At 274 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2020, the lowest violent crime rate was on the southern coast and border (Imperial, Orange, San Diego, and Ventura Counties), while the Sierra region had the lowest property crime rate, at 1,510 per 100,000 residents.

The state’s highest rate of violent crime was in the San Joaquin Valley, which had 559 violent incidents per 100,000 residents, while the highest rate of property crime occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, which had 2,608 property incidents per 100,000 residents.

Violent crime increased in many counties, but property crime decreased in most counties.

A total of 37 of the state’s 58 counties saw violent crime rise in 2020, with 16 counties experiencing increases of 20% or more. However, 12 of these 16 counties are smaller counties, which are especially susceptible to wide swings in crime rates due to small populations and rare instances of violent crime.

Of the state’s 15 largest counties, 6 saw a rise in violent crime while 9 saw a drop in it.

A total of 45 counties—including 12 of the 15 largest—saw decreases in property crime rates in 2020. In 25 counties—including 6 of the 15 largest counties—the property crime rate fell by at least 10%.

Only 3 of the 15 largest counties experienced increases in property crimes: Fresno (by 6.1%), Ventura (3.6%), and Orange Counties (3.2%).

Among the 15 largest counties, only Fresno and Orange County saw both violent and property crime rates increase in 2020.

SOURCE: Authors’ calculation based on the California Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Statistics Center, California Crimes and Clearances Files, 2019–2020.

NOTES: Chart shows California’s 15 largest counties, sorted by population size. Violent crime includes homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault; property crime includes burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny theft (including non-felonious larceny theft).