Photo: Wulfnoth of English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Santa Rosa reports more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Santa Rosa’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C for safety: #169 of 416 graded towns in California, and #82 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 Rosa
Santa Rosa reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 California towns on Santa Rosa’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Sebastopol (C). Larkfield-Wikiup is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Santa Rosa’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 59% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 33% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Santa Rosa’s police reported 11 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 4.3 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: below the rest of California
62.3 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (100 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 Rosa reports less crime per resident than 75% (#82). 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 Rosa’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 violent rate (3.2) 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. Its property rate (14.0) 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 is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Rosa property | Rest of California property | Santa Rosa violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.6 | 24.9 | 3.4 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 14.7 | 25.0 | 3.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 13.2 | 20.9 | 3.4 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 14.0 | 18.5 | 2.9 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Santa Rosa’s police reported 11 homicides, 100 robberies and 517 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Rosa | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 5.7 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 6.2 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Santa Rosa | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 55.7 | 136 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 63.9 | 142 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 66.8 | 128 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 56.4 | 102 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 14 property crimes reported
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
3,006 crimes reported in 2025
517 violent and 2,489 property, as reported to the FBI by Santa Rosa’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
32 people died in crashes on Santa Rosa’s roads in 2019–2023
Santa Rosa had 30 fatal crashes in five years, in which 32 people died; 9 were pedestrians.
That is 3.6 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 Rosa and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Rosa | C | 3.2 | 14.0 |
| Sebastopol | C | 3.9 | 14.6 |
| Larkfield-Wikiup | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Larkfield-Wikiup 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 Rosa | C | 3.2 | 14.0 |
| Elk Grove | B− | 1.8 | 12.1 |
| Garden Grove | C+ | 2.3 | 14.2 |
| Ontario | C | 2.8 | 19.0 |
| Glendale | C | 2.5 | 20.4 |
| Oceanside | C− | 4.2 | 16.5 |
The five graded California towns closest to Santa Rosa’s population (179,437), by grade.
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 Rosa. 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 Rosa’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (177,414 in 2025); our figure for Santa Rosa is 179,437 (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 Rosa
Is Santa Rosa, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Santa Rosa reports more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #169 of 416 in California. Its police reported 3.2 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 Rosa?
3.2 violent and 14.0 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.
Is crime going up or down in Santa Rosa?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Santa Rosa in 2025?
Santa Rosa’s police reported 11 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 6.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Santa Rosa safer than Sebastopol?
Sebastopol reports more crime per resident than Santa Rosa: Sebastopol grades C for safety and Santa Rosa C. Sebastopol’s police reported 3.9 violent and 14.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Santa Rosa?
Santa Rosa’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Santa Rosa”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Santa Rosa.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.