Photo: Cygnusloop99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Mesa reports more crime per resident than 76% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Mesa’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #37 of 55 graded towns in Arizona, and #126 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of AZ” is every other Arizona city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Mesa
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Arizona towns on Mesa’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Queen Creek (B), Gilbert (B), Chandler (B−), Apache Junction (C), Tempe (D). Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Mesa’s police reported 18 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 3.8 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Arizona (5.3) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Arizona
50.7 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (246 reported in 2025), below the rest of Arizona (74.0) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Mesa reports less crime per resident than 61% (#126). Places like it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Mesa’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its property rate (14.6) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Arizona.
Show as a table
| Year | Mesa property | Rest of Arizona property | Mesa violent | Rest of Arizona violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.7 | 22.9 | 4.3 | 4.9 |
| 2023 | 16.3 | 20.7 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 14.6 | 19.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| 2025 | 12.9 | 16.5 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Mesa’s police reported 18 homicides, 246 robberies and 2,182 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Arizona and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Mesa | Rest of Arizona | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.3 | 7.4 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 5.2 | 6.3 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Mesa | Rest of Arizona | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 60.6 | 94.3 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 54.7 | 80.0 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 50.2 | 81.7 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 47.3 | 60.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 13 property crimes reported
And about 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
8,892 crimes reported in 2025
2,182 violent and 6,710 property, as reported to the FBI by Mesa’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
56 of the 233 people who died in crashes on Mesa’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Mesa had 223 fatal crashes in five years, in which 233 people died. 16 of those killed were cyclists.
That is 9.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Arizona towns of 100,000+ people (8.8, 14 towns).
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Mesa has the 14th lowest rate.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Mesa and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa | C− | 4.5 | 14.6 |
| Gilbert | B | 1.2 | 9.2 |
| Tempe | D | 4.6 | 30.5 |
| Chandler | B− | 1.4 | 13.9 |
| Apache Junction | C | 4.1 | 14.1 |
| Queen Creek | B | 1.3 | 8.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Mesa. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Mesa’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (519,990 in 2025); our figure for Mesa is 513,656 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Mesa
Is Mesa, AZ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Mesa reports more crime per resident than 76% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #37 of 55 in Arizona. Its police reported 4.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Arizona and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Mesa?
4.5 violent and 14.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Arizona reports 4.3 and 19.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Mesa?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Mesa in 2025?
Mesa’s police reported 18 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Mesa safer than Gilbert?
Gilbert reports less crime per resident than Mesa: Gilbert grades B for safety and Mesa C−. Gilbert’s police reported 1.2 violent and 9.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Mesa?
Mesa’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Mesa”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Mesa.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.