Photo: Port of San Diego · CC BY 2.0Chula Vista reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Chula Vista’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C for safety: #163 of 416 graded towns in California, and #77 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 Chula Vista
Chula Vista reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 California towns on Chula Vista’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: San Diego (C−), National City (D). Bonita is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Chula Vista’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 61% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 34% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Chula Vista’s police reported 7 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 1.8 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of California (4.2) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of California
72.8 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (187 reported in 2025), below the rest of California (124) and about the same as 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, Chula Vista reports less crime per resident than 76% (#77). 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 Chula Vista’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 (11.5) 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.
Homicides and robberies
Chula Vista’s police reported 7 homicides, 187 robberies and 1,015 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 | Chula Vista | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.9 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 1.8 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 4.3 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Chula Vista | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 106 | 136 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 69.5 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 82.2 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 67.0 | 102 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
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 | Chula Vista property | Rest of California property | Chula Vista violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.8 | 24.9 | 3.5 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 12.8 | 25.1 | 3.5 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 11.3 | 20.9 | 3.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 10.4 | 18.5 | 3.6 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 10 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.
3,930 crimes reported in 2025
1,015 violent and 2,915 property, as reported to the FBI by Chula Vista’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
64 people died in crashes on Chula Vista’s roads in 2019–2023
Chula Vista had 58 fatal crashes in five years, in which 64 people died; 20 were pedestrians. 19 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 4.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below 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.
Chula Vista and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chula Vista | C | 3.6 | 11.5 |
| Bonita | — | — | — |
| National City | D | 6.6 | 19.1 |
| San Diego | C− | 4.0 | 16.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Bonita 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chula Vista | C | 3.6 | 11.5 |
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
| Santa Clarita | B− | 1.7 | 11.2 |
| Santa Ana | C− | 4.6 | 16.6 |
| Riverside | D | 5.6 | 27.8 |
| Stockton | D− | 11.1 | 26.6 |
The five graded California towns closest to Chula Vista’s population (275,533), 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 Chula Vista. 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 Chula Vista’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (279,237 in 2025); our figure for Chula Vista is 275,533 (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 Chula Vista
Is Chula Vista, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Chula Vista reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #163 of 416 in California. Its police reported 3.6 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 Chula Vista?
3.6 violent and 11.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.9 and 21.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Chula Vista?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Chula Vista in 2025?
Chula Vista’s police reported 7 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Chula Vista safer than National City?
National City reports more crime per resident than Chula Vista: National City grades D for safety and Chula Vista C. National City’s police reported 6.6 violent and 19.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Chula Vista?
Chula Vista’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Chula Vista”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Chula Vista.
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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.