Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Bakersfield reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Bakersfield’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #365 of 416 graded towns in California, and #226 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of CA” is every other California 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 Bakersfield
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Bakersfield’s police reported 33 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 7.2 per 100,000 residents a year, 1.7 times the rest of California (4.1) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: about the same as the rest of California
130 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (482 reported in 2025), about the same as the rest of California (123) and 1.6 times 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, Bakersfield reports less crime per resident than 30% (#226). 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 Bakersfield’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.
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 California.
Show as a table
| Year | Bakersfield property | Rest of California property | Bakersfield violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 39.7 | 24.6 | 5.5 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 33.3 | 24.8 | 8.8 | 5.3 |
| 2024 | 24.7 | 20.8 | 5.5 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 22.3 | 18.4 | 4.9 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 22 property crimes reported
And about 5 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.
Homicides and robberies
Bakersfield’s police reported 33 homicides, 482 robberies and 2,081 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of California and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Bakersfield | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.2 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 7.0 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 6.7 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 7.8 | 3.3 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Bakersfield | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 161 | 135 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 149 | 141 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 126 | 127 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 115 | 101 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
11,481 crimes reported in 2025
2,081 violent and 9,400 property, as reported to the FBI by Bakersfield’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
298 people died in crashes on Bakersfield’s roads in 2019–2023
Bakersfield had 285 fatal crashes in five years, in which 298 people died; 114 were pedestrians and 13 were cyclists.
That is 14.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 100,000+ people (7.7, 76 towns).
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.
Bakersfield and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | D | 6.4 | 26.7 |
| Rosedale | — | — | — |
| Greenacres | — | — | — |
| East Niles | — | — | — |
| East Bakersfield | — | — | — |
| La Cresta | — | — | — |
| Potomac Park | — | — | — |
| Oildale | — | — | — |
| Greenfield | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Rosedale, Greenacres, East Niles, East Bakersfield, La Cresta, Potomac Park, Oildale and Greenfield are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | D | 6.4 | 26.7 |
| Anaheim | D | 6.0 | 21.1 |
| Long Beach | D | 6.4 | 30.0 |
| Sacramento | D | 7.6 | 25.6 |
| Stockton | D− | 11.1 | 26.6 |
| Oakland | D− | 23.3 | 74.9 |
The five graded California towns closest to Bakersfield’s population (422,165), by grade.
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 Bakersfield. 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 Bakersfield’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (420,589 in 2025); our figure for Bakersfield is 422,165 (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 Bakersfield
Is Bakersfield, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bakersfield reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #365 of 416 in California. Its police reported 6.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bakersfield?
6.4 violent and 26.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.8 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Bakersfield?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Bakersfield in 2025?
Bakersfield’s police reported 33 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 7.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Bakersfield?
Bakersfield’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bakersfield”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bakersfield.
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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.