Photo: Coolsheep2 · CC BY-SA 4.0For violent crime, Santa Ana trails 86% of U.S. towns per resident
The graded rate fell 36% from 2023 to 2025. Santa Ana’s overall Safety Grade is C− (#266 of 416 graded towns in California, and #141 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. On top of that, all 5 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Violence and property crime split as 4.6 violent crimes and 16.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of 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 Santa Ana
5 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 California towns on Santa Ana’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Irvine (B−), Orange (C+), Garden Grove (C+), Fountain Valley (C+), Tustin (C). Costa Mesa reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Santa Ana’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 36% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 21% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Santa Ana’s police reported 12 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 3.5 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
103 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (253 reported in 2025), below the rest of California (123) and above 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, Santa Ana reports less crime per resident than 57% (#141). 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 Santa Ana’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. Its property rate (16.6) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Ana property | Rest of California property | Santa Ana violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 20.0 | 25.0 | 5.6 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 17.0 | 20.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 13.0 | 18.5 | 3.3 | 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of California.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Ana | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.0 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Ana | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 125 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 106 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 79.7 | 102 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Santa Ana’s police reported 12 homicides, 253 robberies and 1,054 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.
Crime in Santa Ana 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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
5,180 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.
1,054 violent and 4,126 property, as reported to the FBI by Santa Ana’s police.
121 people died in crashes on Santa Ana’s roads in 2019–2023
Santa Ana had 114 fatal crashes in five years, in which 121 people died; 60 were pedestrians and 10 were cyclists. 15 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 7.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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.
Santa Ana and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana | C− | 4.6 | 16.6 |
| Tustin | C | 2.2 | 20.8 |
| Orange | C+ | 2.1 | 13.4 |
| Garden Grove | C+ | 2.3 | 14.2 |
| Fountain Valley | C+ | 1.6 | 18.3 |
| Costa Mesa | — | — | — |
| Irvine | B− | 0.8 | 13.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Costa Mesa reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana | C− | 4.6 | 16.6 |
| Chula Vista | C | 3.6 | 11.5 |
| Anaheim | D | 6.0 | 21.1 |
| Riverside | D | 5.6 | 27.8 |
| Bakersfield | D | 6.4 | 26.7 |
| Stockton | D− | 11.1 | 26.6 |
The five graded California towns closest to Santa Ana’s population (315,586), 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 Santa Ana. 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 Santa Ana’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (317,439 in 2025); our figure for Santa Ana is 315,586 (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 Santa Ana
Is Santa Ana, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Santa Ana reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #266 of 416 in California. Its police reported 4.6 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 Santa Ana?
4.6 violent and 16.6 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.
How many homicides were there in Santa Ana in 2025?
Santa Ana’s police reported 12 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Santa Ana safer than Tustin?
Tustin reports less crime per resident than Santa Ana: Tustin grades C for safety and Santa Ana C−. Tustin’s police reported 2.2 violent and 20.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Santa Ana?
Santa Ana’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Santa Ana”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Santa Ana.
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.