Photo: Utilizer · CC BY-SA 3.0Walnut Creek sees more property crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
Of the 3 towns on its borders with figures, one records less crime per resident. On top of that, the local count comes to 2.6 violent crimes and 26.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. All told, Walnut Creek grades C− for safety (#288 of 416 graded towns in California): more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. The rate the grade counts dropped 15% 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 stands out about safety in Walnut Creek
1 of the 3 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 8 California towns on Walnut Creek’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Lafayette (B), Concord (D), Pleasant Hill (D). Saranap, Acalanes Ridge, Contra Costa Centre, Alamo and Reliez Valley are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among California towns, closer to the middle
California’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Walnut Creek’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 31% of the 416 California towns we grade, against 19% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Walnut Creek has 53,279 jobs based in town for 70,012 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read 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 Walnut Creek’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.6) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Walnut Creek property | Rest of California property | Walnut Creek violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 27.6 | 24.9 | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 29.0 | 20.8 | 2.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 24.0 | 18.5 | 2.1 | 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of California.
Crime in Walnut 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Walnut Creek | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.8 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.1 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Walnut Creek’s police reported 542 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
1,851 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.
148 violent and 1,703 property, as reported to the FBI by Walnut Creek’s police.
16 people died in crashes on Walnut Creek’s roads in 2019–2023
Walnut Creek had 14 fatal crashes in five years, in which 16 people died; 8 were pedestrians. Most of these deaths (8 of 16) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is 4.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for California towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.6, 231 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.
Walnut Creek and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Creek | C− | 2.6 | 26.8 |
| Saranap | — | — | — |
| Acalanes Ridge | — | — | — |
| Contra Costa Centre | — | — | — |
| Alamo | — | — | — |
| Pleasant Hill | D | 2.5 | 41.8 |
| Reliez Valley | — | — | — |
| Concord | D | 4.7 | 29.3 |
| Lafayette | B | 0.7 | 12.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Saranap, Acalanes Ridge, Contra Costa Centre, Alamo and Reliez Valley are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Creek | C− | 2.6 | 26.8 |
| Camarillo | B | 1.2 | 11.9 |
| Eastvale | B− | 0.9 | 15.9 |
| Madera | C | 4.7 | 11.5 |
| Baldwin Park | C | 4.2 | 15.0 |
| Yuba City | C− | 4.2 | 17.0 |
The five graded California towns closest to Walnut Creek’s population (70,012), 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 Walnut Creek. 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 Walnut Creek’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (70,970 in 2025); our figure for Walnut Creek is 70,012 (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 Walnut Creek
Is Walnut Creek, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Walnut Creek reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #288 of 416 in California. Its police reported 2.6 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 Walnut Creek?
2.6 violent and 26.8 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.
How many homicides were there in Walnut Creek in 2025?
Walnut Creek’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Walnut Creek safer than Pleasant Hill?
Pleasant Hill reports more crime per resident than Walnut Creek: Pleasant Hill grades D for safety and Walnut Creek C−. Pleasant Hill’s police reported 2.5 violent and 41.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Walnut Creek?
Walnut Creek’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Walnut 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 Walnut 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.