Clarke Estate · Photo: Northwalker · CC0Crime per resident in Santa Fe Springs runs higher than in almost every U.S. town
All 5 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Counting crimes Santa Fe Springs’ police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D− for safety: #411 of 416 graded towns in California. Annual rates stand at 8.7 violent crimes and 62.0 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 4.8 and 21.3 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 Fe Springs
5 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 California towns on Santa Fe Springs’ borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: La Mirada (C+), Norwalk (C−), Whittier (C−), Pico Rivera (C−), Cerritos (D). West Whittier-Los Nietos and South Whittier are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Downey reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Santa Fe Springs has 58,076 jobs based in town for 18,793 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Santa Fe Springs’ 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Fe Springs | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.7 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 7.6 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 9.1 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 9.5 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Santa Fe Springs’ police reported 500 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 8.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Santa Fe Springs 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 10 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Fe Springs property | Rest of California property | Santa Fe Springs violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 72.7 | 24.8 | 6.7 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 66.9 | 24.9 | 7.6 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 61.6 | 20.8 | 9.1 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 57.8 | 18.5 | 9.5 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of California.
1,250 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.
177 violent and 1,073 property, as reported to the FBI by Santa Fe Springs’ police.
35 people died in crashes on Santa Fe Springs’s roads in 2019–2023
Santa Fe Springs had 34 fatal crashes in five years, in which 35 people died; 12 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 10 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 37.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 5,000–25,000 people (5.6, 355 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 Fe Springs and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe Springs | D− | 8.7 | 62.0 |
| West Whittier-Los Nietos | — | — | — |
| South Whittier | — | — | — |
| Norwalk | C− | 3.7 | 18.7 |
| Pico Rivera | C− | 4.9 | 22.1 |
| La Mirada | C+ | 1.8 | 17.4 |
| Whittier | C− | 4.4 | 22.1 |
| Downey | — | — | — |
| Cerritos | D | 3.0 | 46.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. West Whittier-Los Nietos and South Whittier are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Downey reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe Springs | D− | 8.7 | 62.0 |
| Chowchilla | C | 5.3 | 10.0 |
| Pinole | C− | 3.4 | 22.0 |
| Arcata | C− | 4.9 | 18.0 |
| Hermosa Beach | C− | 3.6 | 25.7 |
| South El Monte | D | 5.4 | 32.1 |
The five graded California towns closest to Santa Fe Springs’ population (18,793), 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 Fe Springs. 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 Santa Fe Springs’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (18,568 in 2025); our figure for Santa Fe Springs is 18,793 (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 Fe Springs
Is Santa Fe Springs, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Santa Fe Springs reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #411 of 416 in California. Its police reported 8.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Santa Fe Springs?
8.7 violent and 62.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.8 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Santa Fe Springs safer than Norwalk?
Norwalk reports less crime per resident than Santa Fe Springs: Norwalk grades C− for safety and Santa Fe Springs D−. Norwalk’s police reported 3.7 violent and 18.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Santa Fe Springs?
Santa Fe Springs’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Santa Fe Springs”. 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 Fe Springs.
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.