Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Mesa, AZ Crime Grade
How Mesa grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Arizona — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
9/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Arizona
9/10
vs. Arizona cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Mesa, AZ was 419.6 per 100,000 residents (2,182 incidents over a population of 519,990). That puts Mesa Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 11% above the Arizona statewide rate of 377.3.
That ranks Mesa #3,092 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 18% of them, and #38 of 45 in Arizona. Violent crime is down 14% year over year and roughly flat over the last five years.
Mesa, AZ crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (9/10)
- Arizona Grade
- F (9/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 419.6 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,092 of 3,771
- AZ rank
- #38 of 45
- Safer than
- 18% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 14%
- 5-year change
- roughly flat
- Population
- 519,990
- Reporting agency
- Mesa Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Mesa Police Department (FBI ORI AZ0071700) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Mesa, AZ
Also known as
- Hayden
- Zenos
History
This Mormon community was named 'Mesa' in 1878 because of its location, but in 1881 postal authorities had the settlement renamed 'Hayden' for Charles Trumbull Hayden because of possible confusion with Mesaville post office. When confusion did take place with Haydens Ferry (now Tempe), the town was renamed in 1886 'Zenos' for a prophet in the Book of Mormon. When Mesaville post office was discontinued in 1888, Zenos reverted to 'Mesa' in 1889 (AZ-T101).
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Mesa (red), Arizona (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Mesa vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 415.6(2,135) | 435.8(2,236) | 444.3(2,292) | 485.6(2,494) | 419.6(2,182) |
| Murder | 4.9(25) | 5.5(28) | 5.2(27) | 2.7(14) | 3.5(18) |
| Rape | 61.9(318) | 54.2(278) | 42.3(218) | 48.9(251) | 28.7(149) |
| Robbery | 63.1(324) | 60.6(311) | 54.7(282) | 50.4(259) | 47.3(246) |
| Aggravated assault | 285.8(1,468) | 315.5(1,619) | 342.2(1,765) | 383.6(1,970) | 340.2(1,769) |
| Property crime | 1977.8(10,160) | 1788.3(9,176) | 1651.1(8,517) | 1487.0(7,637) | 1296.6(6,742) |
| Burglary | 267.1(1,372) | 216.1(1,109) | 199.9(1,031) | 190.0(976) | 167.3(870) |
| Larceny | 1491.3(7,661) | 1356.0(6,958) | 1173.6(6,054) | 1088.8(5,592) | 963.3(5,009) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 212.4(1,091) | 210.7(1,081) | 268.3(1,384) | 200.2(1,028) | 159.8(831) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Mesa, AZ Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Mesa Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Mesa calculated?
- Mesa's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Arizona state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Arizona cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Mesa Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Arizona
Comparable Arizona cities by population.
Compare Mesa to other places
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