Photo: Flickr user MiguelVieira · CC BY 2.0Per resident, Sutter Creek records more violent crime than 70% of U.S. towns
Overall, it grades B− for safety (#95 of 416 graded towns in California). Per 1,000 residents a year, 2.8 violent crimes and 8.5 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 4.9 and 21.4 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 Sutter Creek
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Sutter Creek’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 77% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 47% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Sutter Creek’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Sutter Creek’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.8) 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 | Sutter Creek | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.3 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.8 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Sutter Creek’s police reported 23 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.8 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 Sutter Creek 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 3 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 | Sutter Creek property | Rest of California property | Sutter Creek violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.4 | 24.8 | 1.1 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 7.3 | 25.0 | 3.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 9.5 | 20.8 | 1.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 8.8 | 18.5 | 3.3 | 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.
33 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.
9 violent and 24 property, as reported to the FBI by Sutter Creek’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Sutter Creek’s roads in 2019–2023
Sutter Creek had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is more than is typical for California towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Sutter Creek’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Sutter Creek’s own rate (29.6) 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.
Sutter Creek and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sutter Creek | B− | 2.8 | 8.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sutter Creek | B− | 2.8 | 8.5 |
| Lake Shastina | A− | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| Stallion Springs | A− | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| Mount Shasta | C+ | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| Weed | C− | 6.0 | 10.9 |
| Alturas | D | 9.1 | 7.2 |
The five graded California towns closest to Sutter Creek’s population (2,701), 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 Sutter Creek. 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 Sutter Creek’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,722 in 2025); our figure for Sutter Creek is 2,701 (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 Sutter Creek
Is Sutter Creek, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Sutter Creek reports more crime per resident than 53% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #95 of 416 in California. Its police reported 2.8 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 Sutter Creek?
2.8 violent and 8.5 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.
Who polices Sutter Creek?
Sutter Creek’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Sutter Creek”. 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 Sutter Creek.
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.