SAN DIEGO TOTAL CRIME DATA

With a crime rate at merely 22.82 incidents per 1,000 residents, San Diego is one of the more safe major cities in California. Considering cities like Chicago boast a crime rate of 44 incidents per 1,000 residents, San Diego is far from one of the highest crime cities throughout the nation. 

SAN DIEGO Total Crimes Data

Population:  1,436,495

    

VIOLENT

PROPERTY

TOTAL CRIMES

Number of Crimes

5,360

27,416

32,776

San diego Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

3.73   1.8 %

19.09  3.6 %

22.82  3.3 %

California Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

4.47   -1.3 %

23.80   -5.0 %

28.28   -4.4 %

Difference From Last Year is Mentioned Next to Crime Rate.

Calculation: Number of Crime / Population x 1000

When reporting data, most cities report crime by types using the categories “Violent” and “Property.” Violent crime is defined as a crime in which an offender uses or threatens the use of force. This includes acts such as murder, rape as well as other crimes where force is used. Meanwhile, property crime is a crime conducted to obtain money, property, or some other benefit. What this graph demonstrates is that San Diego endures a lower level of both property and violent crime as compared to the state of California. The end result is that San Diego sees 22.82 total crimes per 1,000 residents as opposed to California’s 28.28 incidents of crime per 1,000 residents. 

When examined over this 4 year time period, one can see that crime in San Diego has only varied by a small margin over the years. Violent crime is almost flat with seeing 5,214 incidents in 2014 and only 5,360 in 2018. Meanwhile, San Diego witnessed an increase in property crime in both 2015 and 2016, but by 2018 it had returned to 2014 levels. At a population of nearly 1.5 million, the statistical variance in total crime is remarkably small over this timeframe.

San Diego Crimes by Type as Compared to State

As of the time of this research, San Diego represented 0.44% of the total U.S. population. Remarkably, San Diego represents nearly that exact same percentage of total U.S. violent crime at 0.43%. Meanwhile, San Diego ensures a lower level of property crime than the rest of the United States on the average. With San Diego representing 0.39% of the total crimes in the United States, it is statistically safer than many other major U.S. cities.


Population

VIOLENT

PROPERTY

TOTAL CRIMES

Number of Crimes in
San Diego

1,436,495

5,360

27,416

32,776

Number of Crimes in
California

39,557,045

176,982

941,618

1,118,600

Number of Crimes in
 United States

327,167,434

1,245,065

7,196,045

8,441,110

San Diego Contribution in Crimes of US

0.44%

0.43 %

0.38 %

0.39 %

Contribution Calculation: Chicago Data / United States Data x 100

Calculation: Number of Crime / Population x 1000

San Diego VIOLENT CRIME DATA

This graph shows the side by side comparison of violent crime at the city, state, and federal level. San Diego has a lower violent crime rate per 1,000 residents than the national by a difference of .08 incidents. Meanwhile, there are 0.74 less incidents of violent crime per 1,000 residents in San Diego than there is in the entire state of California per 1,000 residents.

San Diego Violent Crimes Data

Population:  1,436,495


Murder

Rape

Robbery

Assault

Report Total

35

605

1,439

3,281

San Diego Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

0.02   -0.9 %

0.42   7.3 %

1.00   1.2 %

2.28  1.1 %

California Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

0.04   -5.4 %

0.39   + 4.9 %

1.37   -4.4 %

2.66  -0.4 %

Difference From Last Year is Mentioned Next to Crime Rate.

Calculation: Number of Crime / Population x 1000

When you break down the details of violent crime a little further, you can glean more detail on the nature of violent crime in San Diego. This graph displays violent crime as one of 4 major categories to include murder, rape, robbery, and assault. The most striking data point is that San Diego has half the murder rate as the entire state of California per 1,000 residents. San Diego’s 35 reported murders represents 0.02 incidents per 1,000 residents while California as a whole sees 0.04 incidents of murder per 1,000 residents. Meanwhile, San Diego has a higher rate of rape per 1,000 residents than the state of California and slightly less incidents of robbery and assault. 

TOTAL VIOLENT CRIME DATA

While representing 0.44% of the total U.S. population, San Diego accounts for only 0.22% of the nation’s murders. Meanwhile, San Diego accounts for 0.43% of the nation’s rapes, 0.51% of the nation’s robberies, and 0.41% of the nation’s assaults. Those last three numbers are more in line with the percentage of population with a notable increase in robberies. 


Murder

Rape

Robbery

Assault

Number of Crimes in
San Diego

35

605

1,439

3,281

Number of Crimes in
California

1,739

15,505

54,326

105,412

Number of Crimes in
 United States

16,214

139,380

282,061

807,410

San Diego Contribution in Crimes of California

2.01 %

3.90 %

2.65 %

3.11 %

San Diego Contribution in Crimes of US

0.22 %

0.43 %

0.51 %

0.41 %

Contribution Calculation: Chicago Data / United States Data x 100

Calculation: Number of Crime / Population x 1000

This graph shows types of violent crime in San Diego between 2017 and 2018. It again shows that crime changes very little from year to year in San Diego. The differences are nominal compared to the size of its population and the proportions of one crime type to the other remain the same. 

San Diego PROPERTY CRIME DATA

Switching over to property crime, the trends are somewhat similar as violent crime. San Diego has less property crime per 1,000 residents than the nation as a whole, and significantly less property crime when compared against the state of California. At just 19.09 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, San Diego is one of the more secure major cities within the entire state of California. 

San Diego Property Crimes Data

Population:  1,436,495


Burglary

Theft

Motor Vehicle Theft

Report Total

3,752

18,482

5,182

San Diego Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

2.61   -2.5 %

12.87   5.9 %

3.61   -0.04 %

California Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

4.16   -7.2 %

15.72   -3.5 %

3.92   -8.2 %

Difference From Last Year is Mentioned Next to Crime Rate.

Calculation: Number of Crime / Population x 1000

This graph breaks property crime down into three major categories. Those are incidents of burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft. The difference between burglary and theft is that burglary involves a structure typically entered into for the purpose of committing theft. At 2.61 incidents of burglary per 1,000 residents, San Diego sees less incidents than the greater State of California which witnesses 4.16 incidents per 1,000 residents. Meanwhile, theft and motor vehicle are also lower than the state average, but by a small statistical margin. 

TOTAL PROPERTY CRIME DATA

Keeping in mind that San Diego represents 0.44% of the total U.S. population, one can take from this graph that San Diego is safer than the national average when it comes to burglary and theft. San Diego accounts for 0.31% of the nation’s burglaries and 0.35% of the nation’s thefts. What is perhaps more interesting is that San Diego accounts for 0.69% of the nation’s incidents of motor vehicle theft which is significantly higher than the percentage population would suggest.


Burglary

Theft

Motor Vehicle Theft

Number of Crimes in
San Diego

3,752

18,482

5,182

Number of Crimes in
California

164,632

621,775

155,211

Number of Crimes in
 United States

1,230,149

5,217,055

748,841

San Diego Contribution in Crimes of California

2.28 %

2.97 %

3.34 %

San Diego Contribution in Crimes of US

0.31 %

0.35 %

0.69 %

Contribution Calculation: Chicago Data / United States Data x 100

Calculation: Number of Crime / Population x 1000

This graph demonstrates the type and proportion of property crime remains somewhat constant from year to year. San Diego did see a slight drop in the number of thefts from 2017 to 2018, but that was a small variance given the size and population of the city.

 Our Final Thoughts


With California cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco boasting a much higher crime rate per 1,000 residents, San Diego is perhaps one of the more safe major cities throughout the state. There are smaller communities with less crime, but among the cities with such a large population, San Diego holds its own.

Our Data Sources


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