Photo: Mark Miller · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, South Lake Tahoe records more violent crime than 95% of U.S. towns
The crimes the grade counts held steady per resident from 2023 to 2025. Typical years here bring 7.2 violent crimes plus 14.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 4.8 plus 21.4 in the rest of California. Across all the graded crimes, South Lake Tahoe lands on D (#331 of 416 graded towns in California): more crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 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’s behind South Lake Tahoe’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 property rate (14.1) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | South Lake Tahoe | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 7.9 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 7.2 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
South Lake Tahoe’s police reported 456 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 7.2 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 South Lake Tahoe 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 7 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
How crime in South Lake Tahoe has moved
Show as a table
| Year | South Lake Tahoe property | Rest of California property | South Lake Tahoe violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.0 | 24.8 | 6.3 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 14.0 | 25.0 | 6.6 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 14.6 | 20.8 | 7.9 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 13.6 | 18.5 | 7.2 | 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.
441 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.
152 violent and 289 property, as reported to the FBI by South Lake Tahoe’s police.
Two people died in crashes on South Lake Tahoe’s roads in 2019–2023
South Lake Tahoe had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what 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 South Lake Tahoe’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so South Lake Tahoe’s own rate (1.9) 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.
South Lake Tahoe and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Lake Tahoe | D | 7.2 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Lake Tahoe | D | 7.2 | 14.1 |
| Dixon | C+ | 2.6 | 12.4 |
| Coronado | C | 3.4 | 17.1 |
| Port Hueneme | C− | 4.0 | 17.2 |
| Greenfield | C− | 6.5 | 8.4 |
| Cudahy | C− | 5.6 | 14.8 |
The five graded California towns closest to South Lake Tahoe’s population (21,115), 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 South Lake Tahoe. 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 South Lake Tahoe’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (21,206 in 2025); our figure for South Lake Tahoe is 21,115 (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 South Lake Tahoe
Is South Lake Tahoe, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, South Lake Tahoe reports more crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #331 of 416 in California. Its police reported 7.2 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 South Lake Tahoe?
7.2 violent and 14.1 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.
Who polices South Lake Tahoe?
South Lake Tahoe’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “South Lake Tahoe”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in South Lake Tahoe.
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.