Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Mountain Center goes ungraded: its recorded crime
The closest graded town is Palm Springs, 12 miles away, at D. Mountain Center has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Riverside County. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Mountain Center alone, and no Safety Grade. Within a 25-mile drive lie 10 towns that have a grade.
What stands out about safety in Mountain Center
Policed by the county
Mountain Center is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Mountain Center. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are Palm Springs (D, 12 mi), Hemet (C−, 16 mi), San Jacinto (C, 17 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Mountain Center. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Riverside County without police of their own, which include Mountain Center.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Springs | D | 12 mi | 5.6 | 32.7 |
| Hemet | C− | 16 mi | 4.3 | 18.3 |
| San Jacinto | C | 17 mi | 3.3 | 18.1 |
| Rancho Mirage | C− | 17 mi | 2.1 | 25.3 |
| Cathedral City | C+ | 17 mi | 3.0 | 12.4 |
| Beaumont | B− | 18 mi | 2.5 | 9.8 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Mountain Center. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Mountain Center.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
No one died in a crash on Mountain Center’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for California towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Mountain Center’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Mountain Center’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Mountain Center and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idyllwild-Pine Cove | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Idyllwild-Pine Cove is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Mountain Center
Is Mountain Center, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Mountain Center. The nearest California towns with a grade are Palm Springs (D, 12 mi), Hemet (C−, 16 mi), San Jacinto (C, 17 mi).
Who polices Mountain Center?
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Mountain Center is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Riverside County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Mountain Center.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.