Photo: Don Ramey Logan · CC BY-SA 3.0Dana Point sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Dana Point grades B for safety (#58 of 416 graded towns in California): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Dana Point
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 California towns on Dana Point’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Laguna Niguel (B+), San Juan Capistrano (B−), San Clemente (B−), Laguna Beach (C+). Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Dana Point’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 86% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 58% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Dana Point’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; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Dana Point’s police reported 155 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Dana Point | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.7 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 9 property crimes reported
And about 2 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.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of California.
Show as a table
| Year | Dana Point property | Rest of California property | Dana Point violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.4 | 24.8 | 1.7 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 9.7 | 25.0 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 8.7 | 20.8 | 1.9 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 8.5 | 18.5 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
331 crimes reported in 2025
55 violent and 276 property, as reported to the FBI by Dana Point’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
13 people died in crashes on Dana Point’s roads in 2019–2023
Dana Point had 13 fatal crashes in five years, in which 13 people died; 5 were pedestrians. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 7.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.6, 231 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.
Dana Point and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dana Point | B | 1.6 | 9.0 |
| Laguna Niguel | B+ | 1.1 | 8.4 |
| San Clemente | B− | 1.7 | 11.8 |
| San Juan Capistrano | B− | 1.9 | 9.8 |
| Laguna Beach | C+ | 2.9 | 11.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dana Point | B | 1.6 | 9.0 |
| Foster City | B+ | 0.6 | 8.3 |
| Los Gatos | B− | 1.3 | 14.7 |
| Goleta | C+ | 1.9 | 13.9 |
| Burlingame | C | 1.8 | 22.1 |
| Atwater | D | 6.3 | 22.0 |
The five graded California towns closest to Dana Point’s population (32,232), 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 Dana Point. 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 Dana Point’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (32,466 in 2025); our figure for Dana Point is 32,232 (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 Dana Point
Is Dana Point, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Dana Point reports less crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #58 of 416 in California. Its police reported 1.6 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 Dana Point?
1.6 violent and 9.0 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 crime going up or down in Dana Point?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Dana Point in 2025?
Dana Point’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Dana Point safer than Laguna Niguel?
Laguna Niguel reports less crime per resident than Dana Point: Laguna Niguel grades B+ for safety and Dana Point B. Laguna Niguel’s police reported 1.1 violent and 8.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Dana Point?
Dana Point’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Dana Point”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Dana Point.
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.