On violent crime, San Pablo has a higher rate per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 32% from 2023 to 2025. Typical years here bring 5.1 violent crimes plus 25.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 4.9 plus 21.4 in the rest of California. Its Safety Grade is D, on crimes San Pablo’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #345 of 416 graded towns in California.
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 Pablo
San Pablo reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 California towns on San Pablo’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Richmond (D). El Sobrante and Rollingwood are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
A college town
San Pablo is home to Contra Costa College, with 3,192 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 7% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read 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 Pablo’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 | San Pablo property | Rest of California property | San Pablo violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 24.2 | 24.8 | 7.4 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 30.2 | 24.9 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 25.1 | 20.8 | 6.3 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 20.1 | 18.5 | 3.9 | 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 San Pablo 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 | San Pablo | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 6.3 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
San Pablo’s police reported 476 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
756 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.
124 violent and 632 property, as reported to the FBI by San Pablo’s police.
16 people died in crashes on San Pablo’s roads in 2019–2023
San Pablo had 14 fatal crashes in five years, in which 16 people died; 4 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. Most of these deaths (8 of 16) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is 10.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.6, 231 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 Pablo and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Pablo | D | 5.1 | 25.1 |
| El Sobrante | — | — | — |
| Rollingwood | — | — | — |
| Richmond | D | 9.3 | 26.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. El Sobrante and Rollingwood are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Pablo | D | 5.1 | 25.1 |
| Santa Paula | C+ | 3.5 | 7.9 |
| Seaside | C | 4.9 | 7.8 |
| Banning | C | 4.2 | 11.3 |
| El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) | C | 3.7 | 16.5 |
| Bell | C− | 5.8 | 12.5 |
The five graded California towns closest to San Pablo’s population (31,678), 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 San Pablo. 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 San Pablo’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (31,429 in 2025); our figure for San Pablo is 31,678 (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 Pablo
Is San Pablo, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, San Pablo reports more crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #345 of 416 in California. Its police reported 5.1 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 Pablo?
5.1 violent and 25.1 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 San Pablo in 2025?
San Pablo’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 6.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is San Pablo safer than Richmond?
Richmond reports more crime per resident than San Pablo: Richmond grades D for safety and San Pablo D. Richmond’s police reported 9.3 violent and 26.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices San Pablo?
San Pablo’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “San Pablo”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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 San Pablo.
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.