Crime & Safety

San Ramon Ranked Among Safest Cities In California: Report

San Ramon and other Tri-Valley cities are some of the safest in the state, according to consultant Safewise. See who took the top spot.

San Ramon has some of the state's lowest violent and property crime rates.
San Ramon has some of the state's lowest violent and property crime rates. (Google Maps)

SAN RAMON, CA — San Ramon was ranked the 11th safest city in California by security consulting website Safewise.

Using the most recent FBI crime report statistics, Safewise analyzed the number of reported violent crimes and reported property crimes, and calculated the rate of crimes per 1,000 people in each city. See here to learn more about the methodology of the report, and here for the full rankings.

San Ramon, with a population of 76,502, was ranked #11 in the state, a 14-point improvement from 2021. The city had a violent crime rate of 0.7 crimes per 1,000 people in 2022, and a property crime rate of 10.4 per 1,000 people.

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Violent crime went down from 0.8 in 2021 to 0.7 in 2022, while property crime decreased from t0 14.4 in 2021 to 10.4 in 2022

Next door, Danville ranked number one, for the fifth year in a row.

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Danville, with a population of 44,800, had a violent crime rate of 0.5 crimes per 1,000 people in 2022, and a property crime rate of 5.3 per 1,000 people. Violent crime remained unchanged from 2021, while property crime decreased from 6.6 in 2021 to 5.3 in 2022.

Danville’s stellar ranking comes at an interesting time for the town. For the past few years, Danville has made headlines after a former police officer, Andrew Hall, was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to six years in prison for fatally shooting an unarmed, mentally disabled man in 2018. This was the first time a Contra Costa police officer was charged and found guilty in an on-duty shooting.

Hall also fatally shot Tyrell Wilson in 2021, who was holding a knife. Contra Costa County has paid a total of over $9 million to the families of both of Hall’s victims.

By contrast, Oakland, which ranked at #230, had a violent crime rate of 12.9, and a property crime rate of 51.65. San Francisco, ranked #223, had a violent crime rate of 5.4, and a property crime rate of 43.9. Richmond, ranked #225, had a violent crime rate of 9.6, and a property crime rate of 33.0.

A few miles away, Tri-Valley cities performed much better. In addition to Danville and San Ramon, Pleasanton ranked #33, with a violent crime rate of 1.1 and property crime rate of 14.3. Dublin ranked #36, with a violent crime rate of 1.6, and a property crime rate of 13.2.

Nearby Walnut Creek placed 133rd, with a violent crime rate of 1.3, and a property crime rate of 29.1.

Here are the top 2022 top 10 cities, with respective violent and property crime rates:

  1. Danville (0.5, 5.3)
  2. Rancho Santa Margarita (0.4, 5.9)
  3. Moorpark (0.5, 0.7)
  4. Aliso Viejo (0.5, 7.6)
  5. Yorba Linda (0.5, 0.6)
  6. Laguna Niguel (0.6, 8.7)
  7. Poway (1.1, 7.4)
  8. Mission Viejo (0.8, 9.0)
  9. Rancho Palos Verdes (1.0, 8.1)
  10. Thousand Oaks (0.6, 10.4)

Below are the bottom 10:

  1. Bakersfield (5.2, 45.2)
  2. Berkeley (4.4, 45.2)
  3. San Francisco (5.4, 43.9)
  4. Santa Monica (6.0, 42.6)
  5. Compton (11.8, 23.5)
  6. Richmond (9.6, 33.0)
  7. Vallejo (9.9, 33.3)
  8. Stockton (12.8, 29.8)
  9. San Bernardino (14.0, 28.0)
  10. Oakland (12.9, 51.65)

*Note: An earlier version of this story stated that Danville was named safest city in the state for the third year in a row. It was the fifth. Patch regrets the error.

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