Photo: Dolly442 · CC BY-SA 4.0On violent crime, Laguna Woods has a lower rate per resident than 81% of U.S. towns
A Safety Grade of A− follows from crimes Laguna Woods’ police reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #16 of 416 graded towns in California. On top of that, its 4 neighbors with figures all record more crime per resident. Typical years here bring 0.6 violent crime plus 6.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 4.9 plus 21.4 in the rest of California.
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 Laguna Woods
Laguna Woods reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 California towns on Laguna Woods’ borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Aliso Viejo (B+), Irvine (B−), Laguna Hills (B−), Laguna Beach (C+). Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Laguna Woods’ place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 96% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 77% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Laguna Woods’ 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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Laguna Woods | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.2 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Laguna Woods’ police reported 31 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.6 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 Laguna Woods 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 1 violent crime, 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 | Laguna Woods property | Rest of California property | Laguna Woods violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.2 | 24.8 | 0.2 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 5.4 | 25.0 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 8.9 | 20.8 | 0.6 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 6.3 | 18.5 | 0.7 | 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.
119 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.
12 violent and 107 property, as reported to the FBI by Laguna Woods’ police.
Four people died in crashes on Laguna Woods’s roads in 2019–2023
Laguna Woods had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is about what 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 Laguna Woods’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Laguna Woods’s own rate (4.6) 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.
Laguna Woods and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laguna Woods | A− | 0.6 | 6.9 |
| Aliso Viejo | B+ | 1.2 | 7.3 |
| Laguna Hills | B− | 2.4 | 10.8 |
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
| Laguna Beach | C+ | 2.9 | 11.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laguna Woods | A− | 0.6 | 6.9 |
| Fillmore | B | 2.2 | 5.4 |
| Truckee | C+ | 4.0 | 6.9 |
| Coalinga | C | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| Clearlake | D | 8.6 | 18.8 |
| El Segundo | D− | 4.6 | 51.7 |
The five graded California towns closest to Laguna Woods’ population (16,844), 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 Laguna Woods. 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 Laguna Woods’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (16,922 in 2025); our figure for Laguna Woods is 16,844 (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 Laguna Woods
Is Laguna Woods, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Laguna Woods reports less crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #16 of 416 in California. Its police reported 0.6 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 Laguna Woods?
0.6 violent and 6.9 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.
Is Laguna Woods safer than Aliso Viejo?
Aliso Viejo reports more crime per resident than Laguna Woods: Aliso Viejo grades B+ for safety and Laguna Woods A−. Aliso Viejo’s police reported 1.2 violent and 7.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Laguna Woods?
Laguna Woods’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Laguna Woods”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Laguna Woods.
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.