Photo: Mrbooger · CC BY-SA 4.0On property crime, Lake Elsinore has a higher rate per resident than three in four U.S. towns
All told, Lake Elsinore grades C for safety (#163 of 416 graded towns in California): more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 1.7 violent crimes and 19.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. Add to that, the crimes the grade counts fell 25% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Lake Elsinore
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 California towns on Lake Elsinore’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Canyon Lake (A−), Menifee (B), Wildomar (B−). Lakeland Village, Warm Springs, Meadowbrook and Temescal Valley 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 Lake Elsinore’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 61% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 34% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Lake Elsinore’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 (1.7) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Elsinore property | Rest of California property | Lake Elsinore violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 24.8 | 24.8 | 1.9 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 21.6 | 25.0 | 2.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 18.5 | 20.8 | 1.7 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 16.8 | 18.5 | 1.2 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Elsinore | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.9 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.3 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.2 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lake Elsinore’s police reported 382 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.7 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 Lake Elsinore 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.
1,337 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.
86 violent and 1,251 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake Elsinore’s police.
29 people died in crashes on Lake Elsinore’s roads in 2019–2023
Lake Elsinore had 28 fatal crashes in five years, in which 29 people died; 6 were pedestrians. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.0 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.
Lake Elsinore and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Elsinore | C | 1.7 | 19.0 |
| Lakeland Village | — | — | — |
| Warm Springs | — | — | — |
| Canyon Lake | A− | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| Wildomar | B− | 1.4 | 11.2 |
| Meadowbrook | — | — | — |
| Temescal Valley | — | — | — |
| Menifee | B | 1.8 | 9.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Lakeland Village, Warm Springs, Meadowbrook and Temescal Valley are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Elsinore | C | 1.7 | 19.0 |
| Pleasanton | C+ | 1.2 | 16.8 |
| Napa | C | 2.9 | 14.3 |
| Redlands | C− | 3.1 | 23.1 |
| Tulare | C− | 5.6 | 17.6 |
| Bellflower | D | 6.0 | 20.8 |
The five graded California towns closest to Lake Elsinore’s population (75,067), 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 Lake Elsinore. 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 Lake Elsinore’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (74,375 in 2025); our figure for Lake Elsinore is 75,067 (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 Lake Elsinore
Is Lake Elsinore, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lake Elsinore reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #163 of 416 in California. Its police reported 1.7 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 Lake Elsinore?
1.7 violent and 19.0 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 Lake Elsinore in 2025?
Lake Elsinore’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Lake Elsinore safer than Canyon Lake?
Canyon Lake reports less crime per resident than Lake Elsinore: Canyon Lake grades A− for safety and Lake Elsinore C. Canyon Lake’s police reported 0.6 violent and 6.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lake Elsinore?
Lake Elsinore’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lake Elsinore”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Lake Elsinore.
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.