Photo: Soundsfancy · CC BY-SA 4.0More violent crime is recorded per resident in Pismo Beach than in 88% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 42% from 2023 to 2025. Recorded violent crimes ran at 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 22.2, against 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. It grades C− for safety on crimes Pismo Beach’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #323 of 416 graded towns in California. Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident.
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 Pismo Beach
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 California towns on Pismo Beach’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Arroyo Grande (B−), Grover Beach (B−). Avila Beach is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
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 Pismo Beach’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Pismo Beach property | Rest of California property | Pismo Beach violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 36.6 | 24.8 | 11.9 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 29.2 | 25.0 | 7.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 20.1 | 20.8 | 3.7 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 17.3 | 18.5 | 3.8 | 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.
Crime in Pismo Beach 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 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Pismo Beach | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.9 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.7 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Pismo Beach’s police reported 118 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
168 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.
30 violent and 138 property, as reported to the FBI by Pismo Beach’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Pismo Beach’s roads in 2019–2023
Pismo Beach had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 3 were pedestrians.
That is more than is typical for California towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Pismo Beach’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Pismo Beach’s own rate (12.5) 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.
Pismo Beach and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pismo Beach | C− | 4.9 | 22.2 |
| Grover Beach | B− | 2.4 | 11.3 |
| Avila Beach | — | — | — |
| Arroyo Grande | B− | 2.6 | 8.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Avila Beach 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pismo Beach | C− | 4.9 | 22.2 |
| Winters | A− | 0.7 | 4.7 |
| Hughson | A− | 1.0 | 4.6 |
| Rolling Hills Estates | C+ | 1.5 | 16.6 |
| Fowler | C | 5.0 | 11.5 |
| Woodlake | C− | 6.1 | 11.7 |
The five graded California towns closest to Pismo Beach’s population (7,911), 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 Pismo Beach. 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 Pismo Beach’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,964 in 2025); our figure for Pismo Beach is 7,911 (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 Pismo Beach
Is Pismo Beach, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Pismo Beach reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #323 of 416 in California. Its police reported 4.9 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 Pismo Beach?
4.9 violent and 22.2 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 Pismo Beach safer than Grover Beach?
Grover Beach reports less crime per resident than Pismo Beach: Grover Beach grades B− for safety and Pismo Beach C−. Grover Beach’s police reported 2.4 violent and 11.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Pismo Beach?
Pismo Beach’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Pismo Beach”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Pismo Beach.
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.