California Crime Statistics (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose: crime rate, safe area, income)

[DowntownVentura]

I took the last FBI figures (1st half 2010) for California Cities greater than 100,000 people FBI — Table 4

The column called Index is the Violent Crimes / Population * 1,000

Sorted by lowest Index (safest first)



City.............Population..Violent....Index
IRVINE..............215,673.....65........30
TEMECULA............100,922.....37........37
SIMI VALLEY.........121,538.....58........48
THOUSAND OAKS.......123,735.....61........49
MURRIETA............105,238.....52........49
SUNNYVALE...........132,144.....74........56
GLENDALE............197,384....128........65
ORANGE..............137,132.....95........69
CORONA .............152,438....111........73
SANTA CLARA.........111,106.....82........74
RANCHO CUCAMONGA ...176,676....153........87
BURBANK.............103,248.....91........88
HUNTINGTON BEACH....192,911....204.......106
COSTA MESA .........110,150....117.......106
TORRANCE............141,109....163.......116
SANTA CLARITA.......171,112....203.......119
FREMONT ............202,714....266.......131
VENTURA.............103,997....144.......138
DALY CITY...........101,284....144.......142
CHULA VISTA.........224,841....332.......148
ROSEVILLE...........116,846....173.......148
ANAHEIM.............335,970....534.......159
GARDEN GROVE........165,837....264.......159
WEST COVINA.........105,846....169.......160
FULLERTON...........132,478....217.......164
SAN JOSE............954,009..1,564.......164
PASADENA............144,063....240.......167
MORENO VALLEY.......197,114....338.......171
DOWNEY..............107,598....185.......172
NORWALK ............102,807....179.......174
ONTARIO.............173,212....315.......182
CONCORD.............121,042....223.......184
FONTANA ............190,303....362.......190
OXNARD .............187,357....357.......191
OCEANSIDE...........170,579....326.......191
ELK GROVE...........140,576....269.......191
SAN DIEGO.........1,314,773..2,773.......211
SANTA ANA...........339,196....763.......225
RIVERSIDE...........299,871....676.......225
HAYWARD.............142,227....339.......238
BERKELEY............101,190....242.......239
ESCONDIDO ..........137,432....331.......241
VISALIA.............124,263....311.......250
FAIRFIELD...........104,478....262.......251
SANTA ROSA..........156,541....403.......257
EL MONTE............122,428....332.......271
POMONA..............153,217....416.......272
LOS ANGELES.......3,848,776.10,605.......276
PALMDALE............146,377....409.......279
FRESNO..............481,370..1,429.......297
VICTORVILLE.........117,150....348.......297
LANCASTER...........148,742....457.......307
LONG BEACH .........463,969..1,443.......311
BAKERSFIELD.........330,897..1,055.......319
SAN FRANCISCO.......809,755..2,829.......349
MODESTO ............204,474....715.......350
INGLEWOOD...........112,712....408.......362
SAN BERNARDINO .....199,683....779.......390
SALINAS.............143,660....586.......408
ANTIOCH.............101,243....442.......437
SACRAMENTO..........470,308..2,157.......459
RICHMOND............102,566....607.......592
STOCKTON............292,212..1,941.......664
OAKLAND.............404,553..2,991.......739

[UB50]

I'm not sure how you got your numbers, but Glendale hasn't had a murder yet this year. I think that's pretty good.

[californio sur]

What's interesting is that all the Western U.S. states have seen continuing declines in crime but the Northeast U.S. actually saw increases in crime. I wonder why?

[majoun]

That's good news for El Monte, which for many years had the highest crime rate in Los Angeles County. I'm not an expert on El Monte but apparently they're doing something right there if they're just ahead of northern and predominately white Santa Rosa rather than being one of the worst as used to be the case.

Why are the safest cities on that list overwhelmingly southern and the most dangerous cities mostly northern? I know why the northern and central cities on that list are there, but I'd expect some northern cities to be amongst the safest as well (and not just Sunnyvale and Santa Rosa)? Anyone know why?

[Curmudgeon]

I think I do but I'm loathe to say it here. Let's just leave it at population mix.

[BluSpark]

[quote=majoun;17108643]That's good news for El Monte, which for many years had the highest crime rate in Los Angeles County. I'm not an expert on El Monte but apparently they're doing something right there if they're just ahead of northern and predominately white Santa Rosa rather than being one of the worst as used to be the case.

Why are the safest cities on that list overwhelmingly southern and the most dangerous cities mostly northern? I know why the northern and central cities on that list are there, but I'd expect some northern cities to be amongst the safest as well (and not just Sunnyvale and Santa Rosa)? Anyone know why?[/quote]

The list includes only cities with population of 100,000 or more.

A lot of Bay Area cities have fewer than 100,000 residents.

[Lifeshadower]

Originally Posted by BluSpark

The list includes only cities with population of 100,000 or more.

A lot of Bay Area cities have fewer than 100,000 residents.

Well, even with population as a control, the bottom 8 of 10 are cities in Northern California while the top 9 out of 10 are cities in Southern California.

I sort of have a theory why without getting into the whole "OMG LIBERALZ R EVIL" chuckle (kind of a hard argument to make when cities like Modesto and Bakersfield are amongst the top unsafe cities, and aren't very liberal)

After living in both sides of the state, my impression is that the municipalities up north tend to include both really dangerous areas and really safe areas within their cities (IE: Flatland vs Hills Oakland, Hunters Point vs. Marina SF, etc. etc.) which tend to dilute the statistics downward. In SoCal, aside from Los Angeles, every single one of the municipalities tend to be much more uniform in income and poverty makeup (even more than race, income/poverty level seems to be more correlated with amount of total crime)

[majoun]

[quote=BluSpark;17109720]

Originally Posted by majoun

That's good news for El Monte, which for many years had the highest crime rate in Los Angeles County. I'm not an expert on El Monte but apparently they're doing something right there if they're just ahead of northern and predominately white Santa Rosa rather than being one of the worst as used to be the case.

Why are the safest cities on that list overwhelmingly southern and the most dangerous cities mostly northern? I know why the northern and central cities on that list are there, but I'd expect some northern cities to be amongst the safest as well (and not just Sunnyvale and Santa Clara)? Anyone know why?[/quote]

The list includes only cities with population of 100,000 or more.

A lot of Bay Area cities have fewer than 100,000 residents.

That's my guess as well. I'd consider NorCal as a whole safer than SoCal as a whole but NorCal cities - other than the big cities - tend to be smaller.

And poverty/income levels explain why overwhelmingly Latino El Monte has a violent crime rate similar to overwhelmingly non-Latino white Santa Rosa (which I wouldn't consider a dangerous place except for one neighborhood?). El Monte, however, has to have done SOMETHING right to have improved its position relative to other cities in L.A. County.

Can anyone from El Monte or nearby explain why it's gotten safer? Perhaps many of the "bad guys" moved to the Antelope Valley or Inland Empire?

[BluSpark]

[quote=majoun;17114936];17109720]

That's my guess as well. I'd consider NorCal as a whole safer than SoCal as a whole but NorCal cities - other than the big cities - tend to be smaller.

And poverty/income levels explain why overwhelmingly Latino El Monte has a violent crime rate similar to overwhelmingly non-Latino white Santa Rosa (which I wouldn't consider a dangerous place except for one neighborhood?). El Monte, however, has to have done SOMETHING right to have improved its position relative to other cities in L.A. County.

Can anyone from El Monte or nearby explain why it's gotten safer? Perhaps many of the "bad guys" moved to the Antelope Valley or Inland Empire?[/quote]

I am No expert on El Monte. But the data posted is ONLY for ONE-HALF of a year of data. So I'd argue a more long term trend would need to be observed before we can say for sure El Monte is doing something different that is making them stand out.

They DO have their own police department (not policed by the LA County).

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by DowntownVentura

I took the last FBI figures (1st half 2010) for California Cities greater than 100,000 people FBI — Table 4

The column called Index is the Violent Crimes / Population * 1,000

Sorted by lowest Index (safest first)



City.............Population..Violent....Index
IRVINE..............215,673.....65........30
TEMECULA............100,922.....37........37
SIMI VALLEY.........121,538.....58........48
THOUSAND OAKS.......123,735.....61........49
MURRIETA............105,238.....52........49
SUNNYVALE...........132,144.....74........56
GLENDALE............197,384....128........65
ORANGE..............137,132.....95........69
CORONA .............152,438....111........73
SANTA CLARA.........111,106.....82........74
RANCHO CUCAMONGA ...176,676....153........87
BURBANK.............103,248.....91........88
HUNTINGTON BEACH....192,911....204.......106
COSTA MESA .........110,150....117.......106
TORRANCE............141,109....163.......116
SANTA CLARITA.......171,112....203.......119
FREMONT ............202,714....266.......131
VENTURA.............103,997....144.......138
DALY CITY...........101,284....144.......142
CHULA VISTA.........224,841....332.......148
ROSEVILLE...........116,846....173.......148
ANAHEIM.............335,970....534.......159
GARDEN GROVE........165,837....264.......159
WEST COVINA.........105,846....169.......160
FULLERTON...........132,478....217.......164
SAN JOSE............954,009..1,564.......164
PASADENA............144,063....240.......167
MORENO VALLEY.......197,114....338.......171
DOWNEY..............107,598....185.......172
NORWALK ............102,807....179.......174
ONTARIO.............173,212....315.......182
CONCORD.............121,042....223.......184
FONTANA ............190,303....362.......190
OXNARD .............187,357....357.......191
OCEANSIDE...........170,579....326.......191
ELK GROVE...........140,576....269.......191
SAN DIEGO.........1,314,773..2,773.......211
SANTA ANA...........339,196....763.......225
RIVERSIDE...........299,871....676.......225
HAYWARD.............142,227....339.......238
BERKELEY............101,190....242.......239
ESCONDIDO ..........137,432....331.......241
VISALIA.............124,263....311.......250
FAIRFIELD...........104,478....262.......251
SANTA ROSA..........156,541....403.......257
EL MONTE............122,428....332.......271
POMONA..............153,217....416.......272
LOS ANGELES.......3,848,776.10,605.......276
PALMDALE............146,377....409.......279
FRESNO..............481,370..1,429.......297
VICTORVILLE.........117,150....348.......297
LANCASTER...........148,742....457.......307
LONG BEACH .........463,969..1,443.......311
BAKERSFIELD.........330,897..1,055.......319
SAN FRANCISCO.......809,755..2,829.......349
MODESTO ............204,474....715.......350
INGLEWOOD...........112,712....408.......362
SAN BERNARDINO .....199,683....779.......390
SALINAS.............143,660....586.......408
ANTIOCH.............101,243....442.......437
SACRAMENTO..........470,308..2,157.......459
RICHMOND............102,566....607.......592
STOCKTON............292,212..1,941.......664
OAKLAND.............404,553..2,991.......739

Not sure I understand the indexing. Help me out. For instance, San Jose, number 164 safest city on the list, shows 1,564 violent crimes per 1,000 population. City number 167, a less safe city according to the indexing, shows 240 crimes per 1,000. Seems out of order. What am I missing?