Photo: Pf1127 · CC BY 4.0On violent crime, Canyon Lake has a lower rate per resident than 82% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 38% from 2023 to 2025. For every 1,000 residents, 0.6 violent crime and 6.7 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of California, the figures are 4.9 and 21.4. Graded on crimes Canyon Lake’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores A− for safety: #12 of 416 graded towns in California. Its two neighbors with figures both record more crime per resident.
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 Canyon Lake
Canyon Lake reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 California towns on Canyon Lake’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Menifee (B), Lake Elsinore (C). Meadowbrook is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Canyon Lake’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 97% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 78% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Canyon Lake’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Canyon Lake property | Rest of California property | Canyon Lake violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.8 | 24.8 | 1.2 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 7.5 | 25.0 | 1.0 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 7.6 | 20.8 | 0.5 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 5.0 | 18.5 | 0.3 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Canyon Lake | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.0 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.5 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Canyon Lake’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Canyon Lake per 1,000 residents
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.
And fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
59 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
3 violent and 56 property, as reported to the FBI by Canyon Lake’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Canyon Lake’s roads in 2019–2023
Canyon Lake had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian and 1 was a cyclist.
That is about what is typical for California towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Canyon Lake’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Canyon Lake’s own rate (7.2) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Canyon Lake and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon Lake | A− | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| Lake Elsinore | C | 1.7 | 19.0 |
| Menifee | B | 1.8 | 9.1 |
| Meadowbrook | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Meadowbrook is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon Lake | A− | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| Hillsborough | B+ | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Calimesa | C+ | 1.5 | 19.1 |
| Healdsburg | C+ | 3.3 | 12.2 |
| Anderson | D | 7.1 | 18.2 |
| Signal Hill | D− | 7.1 | 54.4 |
The five graded California towns closest to Canyon Lake’s population (11,113), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 Canyon Lake. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Canyon Lake’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,180 in 2025); our figure for Canyon Lake is 11,113 (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 Canyon Lake
Is Canyon Lake, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Canyon Lake reports less crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #12 of 416 in California. Its police reported 0.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Canyon Lake?
0.6 violent and 6.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.9 and 21.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Canyon Lake safer than Lake Elsinore?
Lake Elsinore reports more crime per resident than Canyon Lake: Lake Elsinore grades C for safety and Canyon Lake A−. Lake Elsinore’s police reported 1.7 violent and 19.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Canyon Lake?
Canyon Lake’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Canyon Lake”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Canyon Lake.
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.