Photo: John Wiley User:Jw4nvc - Santa Barbara, California · CC BY 3.0More property crime is recorded per resident in Goleta than in 61% of U.S. towns
Behind the grade sit 1.9 violent crimes and 13.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. Goleta grades C+ for safety overall (#112 of 416 graded towns in California): close to the middle 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 Goleta
Goleta reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 California towns on Goleta’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Santa Barbara (D). Eastern Goleta Valley and University of California-Santa Barbara are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Goleta’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 73% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 43% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Goleta has 21,346 jobs based in town for 32,401 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Goleta’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (1.9) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (13.9) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Goleta | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.5 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.7 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Goleta’s police reported 188 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Goleta 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Goleta property | Rest of California property | Goleta violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.2 | 24.8 | 1.5 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 14.6 | 25.0 | 1.7 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 15.7 | 20.8 | 2.1 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 11.4 | 18.5 | 2.0 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
436 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.
65 violent and 371 property, as reported to the FBI by Goleta’s police.
12 people died in crashes on Goleta’s roads in 2019–2023
Goleta had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 12 people died; 5 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists.
That is 7.3 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.
Goleta and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goleta | C+ | 1.9 | 13.9 |
| Eastern Goleta Valley | — | — | — |
| Santa Barbara | D | 6.3 | 17.5 |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Eastern Goleta Valley and University of California-Santa Barbara are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goleta | C+ | 1.9 | 13.9 |
| Foster City | B+ | 0.6 | 8.3 |
| Dana Point | B | 1.6 | 9.0 |
| Los Gatos | B− | 1.3 | 14.7 |
| Menlo Park | C+ | 2.2 | 16.9 |
| Atwater | D | 6.3 | 22.0 |
The five graded California towns closest to Goleta’s population (32,401), 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 Goleta. 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 Goleta’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (32,573 in 2025); our figure for Goleta is 32,401 (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 Goleta
Is Goleta, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Goleta reports more crime per resident than 57% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #112 of 416 in California. Its police reported 1.9 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 Goleta?
1.9 violent and 13.9 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 Goleta in 2025?
Goleta’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Goleta safer than Santa Barbara?
Santa Barbara reports more crime per resident than Goleta: Santa Barbara grades D for safety and Goleta C+. Santa Barbara’s police reported 6.3 violent and 17.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Goleta?
Goleta’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Goleta”. 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 Goleta.
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.