Photo: Eli Pousson · CC BY-SA 2.0Lake Forest reports less crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Lake Forest’s police in 2023–2025, it grades B for safety: #46 of 416 graded towns in 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 Lake Forest
Lake Forest reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 California towns on Lake Forest’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Mission Viejo (B), Irvine (B−), Laguna Hills (B−). Trabuco Canyon is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lake Forest’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 89% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 61% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Lake Forest’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lake Forest’s police reported 382 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Forest | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.3 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 7 property crimes reported
And about 2 violent crimes, 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.
Reported crime is steady
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Forest property | Rest of California property | Lake Forest violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.5 | 24.8 | 1.2 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 9.8 | 25.0 | 1.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 8.3 | 20.9 | 1.5 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 6.9 | 18.5 | 1.6 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
748 crimes reported in 2025
144 violent and 604 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake Forest’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
21 people died in crashes on Lake Forest’s roads in 2019–2023
Lake Forest had 20 fatal crashes in five years, in which 21 people died; 1 was a pedestrian and 2 were cyclists.
That is 4.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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 Forest and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Forest | B | 1.5 | 8.3 |
| Mission Viejo | B | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Trabuco Canyon | — | — | — |
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
| Laguna Hills | B− | 2.4 | 10.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Trabuco Canyon is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Forest | B | 1.5 | 8.3 |
| San Ramon | B | 1.1 | 10.0 |
| Citrus Heights | C− | 4.1 | 20.2 |
| Mountain View | C− | 2.5 | 26.6 |
| Whittier | C− | 4.4 | 22.1 |
| Santa Barbara | D | 6.3 | 17.5 |
The five graded California towns closest to Lake Forest’s population (86,333), 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 Lake Forest. 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 Forest’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (87,471 in 2025); our figure for Lake Forest is 86,333 (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 Forest
Is Lake Forest, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lake Forest reports less crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #46 of 416 in California. Its police reported 1.5 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 Forest?
1.5 violent and 8.3 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 Lake Forest?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lake Forest in 2025?
Lake Forest’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 Lake Forest safer than Mission Viejo?
Mission Viejo reports more crime per resident than Lake Forest: Mission Viejo grades B for safety and Lake Forest B. Mission Viejo’s police reported 1.2 violent and 11.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lake Forest?
Lake Forest’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lake Forest”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lake Forest.
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.