Photo: OsotedeMonte · CC BY 3.0Modesto reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Modesto’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #353 of 416 graded towns in California, and #208 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Modesto
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Modesto’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 2.4 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of California (4.2) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of California
103 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (193 reported in 2025), below the rest of California (123) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Modesto reports less crime per resident than 36% (#208). Places like 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 Modesto’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.
Homicides and robberies
Modesto’s police reported 0 homicides, 193 robberies and 1,287 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of California and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Modesto | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Modesto | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 133 | 135 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 110 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 113 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 87.3 | 102 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
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 | Modesto property | Rest of California property | Modesto violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 24.0 | 24.8 | 7.6 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 22.3 | 25.0 | 6.5 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 24.1 | 20.8 | 6.6 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 18.4 | 18.5 | 5.8 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 18 property crimes reported
And about 6 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.
5,349 crimes reported in 2025
1,287 violent and 4,062 property, as reported to the FBI by Modesto’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
101 people died in crashes on Modesto’s roads in 2019–2023
Modesto had 96 fatal crashes in five years, in which 101 people died; 46 were pedestrians and 10 were cyclists.
That is 9.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 100,000+ people (7.7, 76 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.
Modesto and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modesto | D | 6.3 | 21.6 |
| West Modesto | — | — | — |
| Empire | — | — | — |
| Bystrom | — | — | — |
| Riverdale Park | — | — | — |
| Parklawn | — | — | — |
| Salida | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. West Modesto, Empire, Bystrom, Riverdale Park, Parklawn and Salida are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modesto | D | 6.3 | 21.6 |
| Santa Clarita | B− | 1.7 | 11.2 |
| Fontana | C+ | 2.6 | 12.3 |
| Moreno Valley | C | 3.0 | 17.5 |
| Fremont | C | 1.7 | 22.9 |
| San Bernardino | D− | 9.5 | 28.5 |
The five graded California towns closest to Modesto’s population (219,652), 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 Modesto. 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 Modesto’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (221,064 in 2025); our figure for Modesto is 219,652 (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 Modesto
Is Modesto, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Modesto reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #353 of 416 in California. Its police reported 6.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Modesto?
6.3 violent and 21.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.8 and 21.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Modesto?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Modesto in 2025?
Modesto’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.
Who polices Modesto?
Modesto’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Modesto”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Modesto.
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.