Photo: Chuffmire · CC BY-SA 4.0Rancho Santa Margarita has less property crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns
Behind the grade sit 0.8 violent crime and 4.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. Measured on crimes Rancho Santa Margarita’s police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of A−: #6 of 416 graded towns in California. Even so, the rate the grade counts climbed 16% from 2023 to 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 Rancho Santa Margarita
Rancho Santa Margarita reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 California towns on Rancho Santa Margarita’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Mission Viejo (B). Coto de Caza, Las Flores and Trabuco Canyon 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 Rancho Santa Margarita’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 99% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 81% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Rancho Santa Margarita’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; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Rancho Santa Margarita | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Rancho Santa Margarita’s police reported 109 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Rancho Santa Margarita property | Rest of California property | Rancho Santa Margarita violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.7 | 24.8 | 0.4 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 4.3 | 25.0 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 5.2 | 20.9 | 0.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 4.5 | 18.5 | 1.1 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose 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 Rancho Santa Margarita 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.
257 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.
50 violent and 207 property, as reported to the FBI by Rancho Santa Margarita’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Rancho Santa Margarita’s roads in 2019–2023
Rancho Santa Margarita had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian and 2 were cyclists.
That is fewer than is typical for California towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Rancho Santa Margarita’s size would see about 13 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rancho Santa Margarita’s own rate (2.1) 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.
Rancho Santa Margarita and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Santa Margarita | A− | 0.8 | 4.7 |
| Coto de Caza | — | — | — |
| Mission Viejo | B | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Las Flores | — | — | — |
| Trabuco Canyon | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Coto de Caza, Las Flores and Trabuco Canyon are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Santa Margarita | A− | 0.8 | 4.7 |
| Hollister | B− | 3.1 | 7.2 |
| Morgan Hill | C+ | 2.2 | 13.3 |
| La Mirada | C+ | 1.8 | 17.4 |
| Coachella | C | 3.0 | 15.4 |
| Palm Springs | D | 5.6 | 32.7 |
The five graded California towns closest to Rancho Santa Margarita’s population (45,779), 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 Rancho Santa Margarita. 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 Rancho Santa Margarita’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (45,982 in 2025); our figure for Rancho Santa Margarita is 45,779 (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 Rancho Santa Margarita
Is Rancho Santa Margarita, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rancho Santa Margarita reports less crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #6 of 416 in California. Its police reported 0.8 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 Rancho Santa Margarita?
0.8 violent and 4.7 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 Rancho Santa Margarita in 2025?
Rancho Santa Margarita’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 Rancho Santa Margarita safer than Mission Viejo?
Mission Viejo reports more crime per resident than Rancho Santa Margarita: Mission Viejo grades B for safety and Rancho Santa Margarita A−. Mission Viejo’s police reported 1.2 violent and 11.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rancho Santa Margarita?
Rancho Santa Margarita’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rancho Santa Margarita”. 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 Rancho Santa Margarita.
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.