Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0Who reports crime for Joshua Tree
A 25-mile circle around it holds 2 towns with a grade. Joshua Tree has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in San Bernardino County. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Joshua Tree alone, and no Safety Grade. Desert Hot Springs, 17 miles away, is the nearest town with a Safety Grade (C).
What stands out about safety in Joshua Tree
Policed by the county
Joshua Tree is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Joshua Tree. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are Desert Hot Springs (C, 17 mi), Cathedral City (C+, 22 mi), Palm Springs (D, 26 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Joshua Tree. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of San Bernardino County without police of their own, which include Joshua Tree.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Hot Springs | C | 17 mi | 4.9 | 12.2 |
| Cathedral City | C+ | 22 mi | 3.0 | 12.4 |
| Palm Springs | D | 26 mi | 5.6 | 32.7 |
| Rancho Mirage | C− | 26 mi | 2.1 | 25.3 |
| Palm Desert | C− | 27 mi | 2.5 | 28.4 |
| Indio | C+ | 27 mi | 3.1 | 12.5 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Joshua Tree. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Joshua Tree.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Seven people died in crashes on Joshua Tree’s roads in 2019–2023
Joshua Tree had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 3 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is more than is typical for California towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Joshua Tree’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Joshua Tree’s own rate (22.5) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Joshua Tree and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yucca Valley | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Yucca Valley reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Joshua Tree
Is Joshua Tree, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Joshua Tree. The nearest California towns with a grade are Desert Hot Springs (C, 17 mi), Cathedral City (C+, 22 mi), Palm Springs (D, 26 mi).
Who polices Joshua Tree?
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. Joshua Tree is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of San Bernardino County without police of their own.
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 Joshua Tree.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.