Photo: Azusa Tarn · CC BY-SA 4.0Irvine reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, Irvine grades B− for safety (#73 of 416 graded towns in California, and #24 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): 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 Irvine
2 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 California towns on Irvine’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Laguna Woods (A−), Lake Forest (B), Laguna Hills (B−), Newport Beach (C), Tustin (C), Santa Ana (C−). Costa Mesa reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Irvine’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 82% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 54% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Irvine’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 0.7 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
21.4 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (57 reported in 2025), below the rest of California (124) and below 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, Irvine reports less crime per resident than 93% (#24). Places like it ↓
A college town
Irvine is home to the University of California-Irvine, with 35,954 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 16% 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 ↓
A job center
Irvine has 279,609 jobs based in town for 318,764 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Irvine’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Irvine’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (13.6) 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.
Homicides and robberies
Irvine’s police reported 0 homicides, 57 robberies and 251 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 | Irvine | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 5.0 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Irvine | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.2 | 137 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 24.4 | 143 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 22.1 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 17.7 | 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 | Irvine property | Rest of California property | Irvine violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 14.8 | 24.9 | 0.8 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 15.5 | 25.1 | 0.9 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 13.9 | 20.9 | 0.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 11.4 | 18.5 | 0.8 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 11 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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.
3,927 crimes reported in 2025
251 violent and 3,676 property, as reported to the FBI by Irvine’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
55 people died in crashes on Irvine’s roads in 2019–2023
Irvine had 51 fatal crashes in five years, in which 55 people died; 8 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 22 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 3.5 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.
Irvine and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
| Tustin | C | 2.2 | 20.8 |
| Newport Beach | C | 2.4 | 18.1 |
| Lake Forest | B | 1.5 | 8.3 |
| Santa Ana | C− | 4.6 | 16.6 |
| Laguna Hills | B− | 2.4 | 10.8 |
| Laguna Woods | A− | 0.6 | 6.9 |
| Costa Mesa | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Costa Mesa reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
| Chula Vista | C | 3.6 | 11.5 |
| Anaheim | D | 6.0 | 21.1 |
| Riverside | D | 5.6 | 27.8 |
| Bakersfield | D | 6.4 | 26.7 |
| Stockton | D− | 11.1 | 26.6 |
The five graded California towns closest to Irvine’s population (318,764), 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 Irvine. 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 Irvine’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (321,339 in 2025); our figure for Irvine is 318,764 (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 Irvine
Is Irvine, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Irvine reports less crime per resident than 54% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #73 of 416 in California. Its police reported 0.8 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 Irvine?
0.8 violent and 13.6 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 Irvine?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Irvine in 2025?
Irvine’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 Irvine safer than Tustin?
Tustin reports more crime per resident than Irvine: Tustin grades C for safety and Irvine B−. Tustin’s police reported 2.2 violent and 20.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Irvine?
Irvine’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Irvine”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Irvine.
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.