Reported crime per resident in Lemon Grove fell 49% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Lemon Grove grades C for safety (#198 of 416 graded towns in California): more crime per resident than 71% 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 Lemon Grove
Lemon Grove reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 California towns on Lemon Grove’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: La Mesa (C), San Diego (C−). Spring Valley and La Presa 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 Lemon Grove’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 52% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 29% 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 Lemon Grove’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its property rate (11.2) 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.
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 | Lemon Grove property | Rest of California property | Lemon Grove violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.5 | 24.8 | 6.1 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 15.4 | 25.0 | 5.9 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 10.7 | 20.8 | 4.4 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 7.5 | 18.5 | 3.4 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 8 property crimes reported
And about 3 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lemon Grove’s police reported 378 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.6 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 | Lemon Grove | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.1 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
304 crimes reported in 2025
96 violent and 208 property, as reported to the FBI by Lemon Grove’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
13 people died in crashes on Lemon Grove’s roads in 2019–2023
Lemon Grove had 13 fatal crashes in five years, in which 13 people died; 8 were pedestrians.
That is 9.4 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.
Lemon Grove and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Grove | C | 4.6 | 11.2 |
| San Diego | C− | 4.0 | 16.7 |
| Spring Valley | — | — | — |
| La Mesa | C | 4.0 | 14.6 |
| La Presa | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Spring Valley and La Presa are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Grove | C | 4.6 | 11.2 |
| Belmont | B− | 1.7 | 12.8 |
| Walnut | B− | 1.3 | 15.5 |
| Lemoore | C | 4.2 | 11.3 |
| Sanger | C | 4.9 | 11.8 |
| Ridgecrest | C− | 6.0 | 9.6 |
The five graded California towns closest to Lemon Grove’s population (27,936), 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 Lemon Grove. 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 Lemon Grove’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (27,896 in 2025); our figure for Lemon Grove is 27,936 (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 Lemon Grove
Is Lemon Grove, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lemon Grove reports more crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #198 of 416 in California. Its police reported 4.6 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 Lemon Grove?
4.6 violent and 11.2 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 Lemon Grove?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lemon Grove in 2025?
Lemon Grove’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 Lemon Grove safer than San Diego?
San Diego reports more crime per resident than Lemon Grove: San Diego grades C− for safety and Lemon Grove C. San Diego’s police reported 4.0 violent and 16.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lemon Grove?
Lemon Grove’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lemon Grove”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lemon Grove.
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.