Minerva Club of Santa Maria · Photo: ELEAZARCH · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Santa Maria records more violent crime than 93% of U.S. towns
Behind the grade sit 6.3 violent crimes and 19.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 4.8 and 21.4 in the rest of California. On crimes reported by Santa Maria’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #345 of 416 graded towns in California, and #200 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Maria
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Santa Maria’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 4.2 per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the rest of California (4.2) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of California
151 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (134 reported in 2025), above the rest of California (123) and 1.9 times 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 Maria reports less crime per resident than 38% (#200). 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 Maria’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 | Santa Maria property | Rest of California property | Santa Maria violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.7 | 24.8 | 6.5 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 23.5 | 25.0 | 6.1 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 18.8 | 20.8 | 6.6 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 17.5 | 18.5 | 6.2 | 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Maria | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.1 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Maria | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 191 | 135 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 159 | 141 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 174 | 127 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 120 | 101 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Santa Maria’s police reported 5 homicides, 134 robberies and 693 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 Maria 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
2,649 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.
693 violent and 1,956 property, as reported to the FBI by Santa Maria’s police.
21 people died in crashes on Santa Maria’s roads in 2019–2023
Santa Maria had 18 fatal crashes in five years, in which 21 people died; 3 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 3.8 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 Maria and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Maria | D | 6.3 | 19.9 |
| Orcutt | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Orcutt is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Maria | D | 6.3 | 19.9 |
| Murrieta | B− | 1.8 | 10.0 |
| Carlsbad | C+ | 2.0 | 14.1 |
| Temecula | C+ | 1.6 | 16.9 |
| San Buenaventura (Ventura) | C− | 4.0 | 20.4 |
| Richmond | D | 9.3 | 26.5 |
The five graded California towns closest to Santa Maria’s population (111,390), 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 Maria. 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 Maria’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (111,741 in 2025); our figure for Santa Maria is 111,390 (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 Maria
Is Santa Maria, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Santa Maria reports more crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #345 of 416 in California. Its police reported 6.3 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 Maria?
6.3 violent and 19.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.8 and 21.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Santa Maria in 2025?
Santa Maria’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Santa Maria?
Santa Maria’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Santa Maria”. 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 Maria.
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.