10 California Cities Ranked As Safest In The State In 2022: Report

CALIFORNIA — Out of California’s 1,345 cities, 10 were listed as the safest cities in the Golden State, according to crime statistics analyzed by SafeWise.

SafeWise, a security product review platform, ranked more than 50 cities this year using recent crime statistics and data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Gun Violence Archive. SafeWise also included demographic information and the results of its State of Safety research study.

The safest city in California was Danville, according to the report. The Northern California city has a population of 44,800, a median income of $160,808, a 0.5 rate of violent crime and a 5.3 rate of property crime, SafeWise reported. Danville also snagged the no. 1 spot last year.

No California cities made the 10 safest cities in America.

Here are the top 10 safest Golden State cities in 2022, according to SafeWise.

1. Danville
2. Rancho Santa Margarita
3. Moorpark
4. Aliso Viejo
5. Yorba Linda
6. Laguna Niguel
7. Poway
8. Mission Viejo
9. Rancho Palos Verdes
10. Thousand Oaks

See the full list.

Surprisingly, California’s violent crime rate held steady over 2022, avoiding a spike seen across the nation. The state reported 4.4 crime incidents per 1,000 people, which surpassed the national rate of 4.0 but avoided an increase over the previous year, according to the analysis.

Nationwide, the violent crime rate rose 5 percent year over year, from 3.7 incidents per 1,000 people to 4.0. Among the 100 safest cities identified by SafeWise, violent crime dropped from 0.30 incidents per 1,000 to 0.26.

As for property crime in California, that rate fell 9 percent from 23.4 incidents per 1,000 to 21.4. That rate is again higher than the national average but is falling steadily, SafeWise reported.

Some 54 percent of California residents said they were highly concerned about violent crime happening to them. That’s 13 percentage points higher than the rest of the U.S.
Despite those fears, all of California’s “safest cities” identified in the report have violent crime rates below the state and national rates.

The nation’s most populous state also reported the third-highest number of mass shootings in 2021, with 46 incidents — an 18 percent increase over the previous year, SafeWise said.

1 in 2 Californians worry that they will be affected by gun violence, making it the third most worried state. Just 8 percent of Californians use firearms to defend their property, compared to the national average of 26 percent.