Photo: JaGa · CC BY-SA 3.0Santa Clara sees more property crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 12% from 2023 to 2025. Even so, the overall Safety Grade is C− (#261 of 416 graded towns in California, and #136 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000), which means more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Typical years here bring 1.9 violent crimes plus 26.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 4.9 plus 21.3 in the rest of California. 2 of the 3 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 Santa Clara
2 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 California towns on Santa Clara’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Cupertino (B−), Sunnyvale (C), San Jose (D). Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Santa Clara’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 37% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 22% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Santa Clara’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 0.5 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
57.8 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (63 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, Santa Clara reports less crime per resident than 58% (#136). Places like it ↓
A job center
Santa Clara has 118,510 jobs based in town for 133,446 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Santa Clara’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 (1.9) 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Clara | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 67.8 | 136 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 69.6 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 57.6 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 46.9 | 102 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Santa Clara’s police reported 0 homicides, 63 robberies and 229 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Clara property | Rest of California property | Santa Clara violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 36.0 | 24.8 | 3.1 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 29.3 | 24.9 | 2.1 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 25.0 | 20.8 | 1.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 25.7 | 18.4 | 1.7 | 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 Santa Clara 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
3,685 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.
229 violent and 3,456 property, as reported to the FBI by Santa Clara’s police.
32 people died in crashes on Santa Clara’s roads in 2019–2023
Santa Clara had 31 fatal crashes in five years, in which 32 people died; 13 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 4.9 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.
Santa Clara and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara | C− | 1.9 | 26.6 |
| San Jose | D | 5.8 | 25.1 |
| Sunnyvale | C | 2.3 | 18.9 |
| Cupertino | B− | 1.0 | 14.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara | C− | 1.9 | 26.6 |
| Orange | C+ | 2.1 | 13.4 |
| Clovis | C | 2.5 | 16.1 |
| Fullerton | C− | 4.0 | 19.7 |
| Torrance | C− | 2.9 | 26.7 |
| Pasadena | D | 4.8 | 25.3 |
The five graded California towns closest to Santa Clara’s population (133,446), 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 Clara. 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 Clara’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (134,290 in 2025); our figure for Santa Clara is 133,446 (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 Clara
Is Santa Clara, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Santa Clara reports more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #261 of 416 in California. Its police reported 1.9 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 Santa Clara?
1.9 violent and 26.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.9 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Santa Clara in 2025?
Santa Clara’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 Santa Clara safer than San Jose?
San Jose reports more crime per resident than Santa Clara: San Jose grades D for safety and Santa Clara C−. San Jose’s police reported 5.8 violent and 25.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Santa Clara?
Santa Clara’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Santa Clara”. 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 Santa Clara.
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.