Photo: Deathlock97 · CC BY-SA 4.0Westminster sees more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns
Next door, 3 of 4 towns with figures record less crime per resident. Even so, recorded violent crimes ran at 4.0 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 24.2, against 4.9 and 21.4 in the rest of California. From 2023 to 2025, crimes Westminster’s police reported put it at C− for safety: #314 of 416 graded towns in California. The crimes the grade counts fell 27% per resident 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 Westminster
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 California towns on Westminster’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Garden Grove (C+), Fountain Valley (C+), Huntington Beach (C), Seal Beach (D). Midway City is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
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 Westminster’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Westminster property | Rest of California property | Westminster violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 29.7 | 24.8 | 4.0 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 27.7 | 24.9 | 4.3 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 25.0 | 20.8 | 4.4 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 20.0 | 18.5 | 3.3 | 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, 2022–2025, against the rest of California.
Crime in Westminster 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Westminster | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Westminster’s police reported 1,063 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
2,079 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.
297 violent and 1,782 property, as reported to the FBI by Westminster’s police.
52 people died in crashes on Westminster’s roads in 2019–2023
Westminster had 49 fatal crashes in five years, in which 52 people died; 21 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 8 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 11.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Westminster and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | C− | 4.0 | 24.2 |
| Garden Grove | C+ | 2.3 | 14.2 |
| Huntington Beach | C | 2.0 | 18.2 |
| Fountain Valley | C+ | 1.6 | 18.3 |
| Seal Beach | D | 4.2 | 26.6 |
| Midway City | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Midway City 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | C− | 4.0 | 24.2 |
| Mission Viejo | B | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Rancho Cordova | C− | 4.6 | 19.7 |
| South Gate | D | 5.1 | 34.6 |
| Santa Monica | D− | 7.6 | 45.3 |
| Compton | D− | 12.4 | 30.3 |
The five graded California towns closest to Westminster’s population (88,966), 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 Westminster. 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 Westminster’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (89,231 in 2025); our figure for Westminster is 88,966 (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 Westminster
Is Westminster, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Westminster reports more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #314 of 416 in California. Its police reported 4.0 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 Westminster?
4.0 violent and 24.2 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 Westminster in 2025?
Westminster’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Westminster safer than Garden Grove?
Garden Grove reports less crime per resident than Westminster: Garden Grove grades C+ for safety and Westminster C−. Garden Grove’s police reported 2.3 violent and 14.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Westminster?
Westminster’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Westminster”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Westminster.
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.