Ernest Coxhead House · Photo: Eugene Zelenko · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in San Mateo fell 27% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, San Mateo grades C for safety (#184 of 416 graded towns in California, and #89 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): more crime per resident than 69% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 San Mateo
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 California towns on San Mateo’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Hillsborough (B+), Foster City (B+), Belmont (B−), Burlingame (C). Baywood Park and Highlands are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so San Mateo’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 56% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 31% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
San Mateo’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 3.0 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
71.4 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (39 reported in 2025), below the rest of California (123) and below 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, San Mateo reports less crime per resident than 73% (#89). 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 San Mateo’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
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 | San Mateo property | Rest of California property | San Mateo violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.5 | 24.8 | 3.0 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 19.2 | 25.0 | 3.5 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 18.8 | 20.8 | 2.4 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 14.9 | 18.5 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
San Mateo’s police reported 0 homicides, 39 robberies and 170 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 | San Mateo | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | San Mateo | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 63.5 | 136 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 103 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 74.1 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 38.1 | 102 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 15 property crimes reported
And about 2 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.
1,695 crimes reported in 2025
170 violent and 1,525 property, as reported to the FBI by San Mateo’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
14 people died in crashes on San Mateo’s roads in 2019–2023
San Mateo had 14 fatal crashes in five years, in which 14 people died; 5 were pedestrians.
That is 2.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below 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.
San Mateo and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo | C | 2.5 | 17.6 |
| Baywood Park | — | — | — |
| Hillsborough | B+ | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Belmont | B− | 1.7 | 12.8 |
| Foster City | B+ | 0.6 | 8.3 |
| Highlands | — | — | — |
| Burlingame | C | 1.8 | 22.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Baywood Park and Highlands are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
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 San Mateo. 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 San Mateo’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (102,362 in 2025); our figure for San Mateo is 103,337 (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 San Mateo
Is San Mateo, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, San Mateo reports more crime per resident than 69% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #184 of 416 in California. Its police reported 2.5 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 San Mateo?
2.5 violent and 17.6 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 crime going up or down in San Mateo?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in San Mateo in 2025?
San Mateo’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 San Mateo safer than Hillsborough?
Hillsborough reports less crime per resident than San Mateo: Hillsborough grades B+ for safety and San Mateo C. Hillsborough’s police reported 1.0 violent and 6.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices San Mateo?
San Mateo’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “San Mateo”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in San Mateo.
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.