Cabot's Old Indian Pueblo Museum · Photo: Jllm06 · CC0Desert Hot Springs has more violent crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 21% from 2023 to 2025. Still, recorded violent crimes ran at 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 12.2, against 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. Desert Hot Springs grades C for safety overall (#232 of 416 graded towns in California): more crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 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 Desert Hot Springs
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 California towns on Desert Hot Springs’ borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Cathedral City (C+), Palm Springs (D). Garnet 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 Desert Hot Springs’ place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 44% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 25% 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 Desert Hot Springs’ 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 (12.2) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Desert Hot Springs property | Rest of California property | Desert Hot Springs violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.4 | 24.8 | 6.7 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 25.0 | 5.0 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 12.0 | 20.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 10.4 | 18.5 | 4.8 | 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.
Crime in Desert Hot Springs 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 about 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Desert Hot Springs | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.7 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Desert Hot Springs’ police reported 497 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
521 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.
165 violent and 356 property, as reported to the FBI by Desert Hot Springs’ police.
23 people died in crashes on Desert Hot Springs’s roads in 2019–2023
Desert Hot Springs had 22 fatal crashes in five years, in which 23 people died; 9 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 13.9 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.
Desert Hot Springs and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Hot Springs | C | 4.9 | 12.2 |
| Garnet | — | — | — |
| Palm Springs | D | 5.6 | 32.7 |
| Cathedral City | C+ | 3.0 | 12.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Garnet 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Hot Springs | C | 4.9 | 12.2 |
| Moorpark | B+ | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Manhattan Beach | C | 1.7 | 25.0 |
| San Dimas | C | 2.7 | 21.3 |
| Pleasant Hill | D | 2.5 | 41.8 |
| West Hollywood | D− | 8.6 | 55.0 |
The five graded California towns closest to Desert Hot Springs’ population (34,009), 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 Desert Hot Springs. 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 Desert Hot Springs’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (34,267 in 2025); our figure for Desert Hot Springs is 34,009 (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 Desert Hot Springs
Is Desert Hot Springs, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Desert Hot Springs reports more crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #232 of 416 in California. Its police reported 4.9 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 Desert Hot Springs?
4.9 violent and 12.2 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.
How many homicides were there in Desert Hot Springs in 2025?
Desert Hot Springs’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 5.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Desert Hot Springs safer than Palm Springs?
Palm Springs reports more crime per resident than Desert Hot Springs: Palm Springs grades D for safety and Desert Hot Springs C. Palm Springs’s police reported 5.6 violent and 32.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Desert Hot Springs?
Desert Hot Springs’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Desert Hot Springs”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Desert Hot Springs.
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.