Photo: User:Geographer · CC BY 2.5Fullerton reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Fullerton’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #277 of 416 graded towns in California, and #149 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 Fullerton
4 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 California towns on Fullerton’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: La Mirada (C+), Placentia (C), La Habra (C), Buena Park (C−), Brea (C−), Anaheim (D). Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Fullerton’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 33% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 20% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Fullerton’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 0.2 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
80.5 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (100 reported in 2025), below the rest of California (123) 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, Fullerton reports less crime per resident than 54% (#149). Places like it ↓
A college town
Fullerton is home to California State University-Fullerton, with 38,210 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 10% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read 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 Fullerton’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.
Homicides and robberies
Fullerton’s police reported 0 homicides, 100 robberies and 529 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 | Fullerton | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 107 | 135 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 79.1 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 90.6 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 71.8 | 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 | Fullerton property | Rest of California property | Fullerton violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 26.5 | 24.8 | 3.9 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 21.7 | 25.0 | 3.8 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 20.2 | 20.8 | 4.6 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 17.2 | 18.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 17 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.
2,918 crimes reported in 2025
529 violent and 2,389 property, as reported to the FBI by Fullerton’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
44 people died in crashes on Fullerton’s roads in 2019–2023
Fullerton had 41 fatal crashes in five years, in which 44 people died; 17 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists.
That is 6.2 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.
Fullerton and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 Fullerton. 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 Fullerton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (139,237 in 2025); our figure for Fullerton is 138,675 (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 Fullerton
Is Fullerton, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Fullerton reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #277 of 416 in California. Its police reported 4.0 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 Fullerton?
4.0 violent and 19.7 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 crime going up or down in Fullerton?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Fullerton in 2025?
Fullerton’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 Fullerton safer than Brea?
Brea reports more crime per resident than Fullerton: Brea grades C− for safety and Fullerton C−. Brea’s police reported 2.1 violent and 27.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Fullerton?
Fullerton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Fullerton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Fullerton.
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.