Photo: pelle68 · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime reported in Costa Mesa, CA
Costa Mesa’s police reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025.
For every 1,000 residents, about 21 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.
The years Costa Mesa’s police reported
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of California. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.
Show as a table
| Year | Costa Mesa | Rest of California | Costa Mesa | Rest of California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 35.6 | 24.8 | 5.9 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | not reported | 25.0 | not reported | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 28.4 | 20.8 | 7.4 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 20.8 | 18.5 | 5.4 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
2,838 crimes reported in 2025
584 violent and 2,254 property, as reported to the FBI by Costa 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.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fountain Valley | C+ | 4 mi | 1.6 | 18.3 |
| Newport Beach | C | 4 mi | 2.4 | 18.1 |
| Santa Ana | C− | 5 mi | 4.6 | 16.6 |
| Huntington Beach | C | 6 mi | 2.0 | 18.2 |
| Tustin | C | 7 mi | 2.2 | 20.8 |
| Westminster | C− | 8 mi | 4.0 | 24.2 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Costa Mesa. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Costa Mesa.
36 people died in crashes on Costa Mesa’s roads in 2019–2023
Costa Mesa had 36 fatal crashes in five years, in which 36 people died; 9 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.5 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.
Costa Mesa and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport Beach | C | 2.4 | 18.1 |
| Santa Ana | C− | 4.6 | 16.6 |
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
| Huntington Beach | C | 2.0 | 18.2 |
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 Costa 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 Costa Mesa’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (108,414 in 2025); our figure for Costa Mesa is 108,881 (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 Costa Mesa
Is Costa Mesa, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa’s police reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. The nearest California towns with a grade are Fountain Valley (C+, 4 mi), Newport Beach (C, 4 mi), Santa Ana (C−, 5 mi).
Who polices Costa Mesa?
Costa Mesa’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Costa Mesa”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Costa 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.