Photo: Telecineguy · CC BY-SA 3.0For property crime, Sierra Madre beats 70% of U.S. towns per resident
Both towns on its borders with figures record more crime per resident. On top of that, each year brought 2.2 violent crimes and 6.8 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California). Overall, Sierra Madre grades B for safety (#58 of 416 graded towns in California): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025.
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 Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 California towns on Sierra Madre’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Arcadia (C−), Pasadena (D). Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, higher
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Sierra Madre’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 86% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 58% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Sierra Madre’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Sierra Madre’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.2) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Sierra Madre | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.9 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.3 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Sierra Madre’s police reported 69 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Sierra Madre 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Sierra Madre property | Rest of California property | Sierra Madre violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.1 | 24.8 | 0.9 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 7.2 | 25.0 | 2.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 6.0 | 20.8 | 2.1 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 7.2 | 18.5 | 2.2 | 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.
100 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.
23 violent and 77 property, as reported to the FBI by Sierra Madre’s police.
No one died in a crash on Sierra Madre’s roads in 2019–2023
That is fewer than is typical for California towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Sierra Madre’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Sierra Madre’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Sierra Madre and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Madre | B | 2.2 | 6.8 |
| Arcadia | C− | 2.4 | 27.7 |
| Pasadena | D | 4.8 | 25.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Madre | B | 2.2 | 6.8 |
| Rio Vista | B | 2.5 | 5.5 |
| Sonoma | B | 1.5 | 10.3 |
| Morro Bay | B− | 2.6 | 9.1 |
| Placerville | C− | 5.9 | 13.7 |
| Piedmont | C− | 1.4 | 31.9 |
The five graded California towns closest to Sierra Madre’s population (10,620), 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 Sierra Madre. 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 Sierra Madre’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,663 in 2025); our figure for Sierra Madre is 10,620 (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 Sierra Madre
Is Sierra Madre, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Sierra Madre reports less crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #58 of 416 in California. Its police reported 2.2 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 Sierra Madre?
2.2 violent and 6.8 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 Sierra Madre safer than Arcadia?
Arcadia reports more crime per resident than Sierra Madre: Arcadia grades C− for safety and Sierra Madre B. Arcadia’s police reported 2.4 violent and 27.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Sierra Madre?
Sierra Madre’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Sierra Madre”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Sierra Madre.
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.