Photo: User:Wikpe44 · Public domainThe crimes the grade counts fell 30% per resident in Mission Viejo from 2023 to 2025
Of the 5 towns on its borders with figures, 3 record less crime per resident. Overall, Mission Viejo grades B for safety (#62 of 416 graded towns in California): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Add to that, in a usual year, 1.2 violent crimes and 11.0 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of California, 4.9 and 21.4.
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 Mission Viejo
3 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 California towns on Mission Viejo’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Rancho Santa Margarita (A−), Laguna Niguel (B+), Lake Forest (B), San Juan Capistrano (B−), Laguna Hills (B−). Las Flores and Ladera Ranch are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Mission Viejo’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 85% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 57% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Mission Viejo is home to Saddleback College, with 9,188 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 6% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
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 Mission Viejo’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Mission Viejo property | Rest of California property | Mission Viejo violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.2 | 24.8 | 0.9 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 12.5 | 25.0 | 1.4 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 11.9 | 20.9 | 1.0 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 8.5 | 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 | Mission Viejo | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.9 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.4 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.0 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.2 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Mission Viejo’s police reported 324 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 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 Mission Viejo 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.
886 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.
107 violent and 779 property, as reported to the FBI by Mission Viejo’s police.
22 people died in crashes on Mission Viejo’s roads in 2019–2023
Mission Viejo had 21 fatal crashes in five years, in which 22 people died; 7 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 4.8 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.
Mission Viejo and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Viejo | B | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Lake Forest | B | 1.5 | 8.3 |
| Rancho Santa Margarita | A− | 0.8 | 4.7 |
| Laguna Niguel | B+ | 1.1 | 8.4 |
| Laguna Hills | B− | 2.4 | 10.8 |
| San Juan Capistrano | B− | 1.9 | 9.8 |
| Las Flores | — | — | — |
| Ladera Ranch | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Las Flores and Ladera Ranch are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Viejo | B | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Folsom | C+ | 1.9 | 14.2 |
| Carson | D | 4.3 | 27.4 |
| South Gate | D | 5.1 | 34.6 |
| Santa Monica | D− | 7.6 | 45.3 |
| Compton | D− | 12.4 | 30.3 |
The five graded California towns closest to Mission Viejo’s population (90,484), 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 Mission Viejo. 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 Mission Viejo’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (91,142 in 2025); our figure for Mission Viejo is 90,484 (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 Mission Viejo
Is Mission Viejo, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Mission Viejo reports less crime per resident than 57% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #62 of 416 in California. Its police reported 1.2 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 Mission Viejo?
1.2 violent and 11.0 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 Mission Viejo in 2025?
Mission Viejo’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Mission Viejo safer than Lake Forest?
Lake Forest reports less crime per resident than Mission Viejo: Lake Forest grades B for safety and Mission Viejo B. Lake Forest’s police reported 1.5 violent and 8.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Mission Viejo?
Mission Viejo’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Mission Viejo”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Mission Viejo.
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.