Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Costa Mesa, CA Crime Grade
How Costa Mesa grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of California — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
9/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
California
9/10
vs. California cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Costa Mesa, CA was 538.7 per 100,000 residents (584 incidents over a population of 108,414). That puts Costa Mesa Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 30% above the California statewide rate of 415.5.
That ranks Costa Mesa #3,336 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 12% of them, and #303 of 371 in California. Violent crime is down 27% year over year and up 97% over the last five years.
Costa Mesa, CA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (9/10)
- California Grade
- F (9/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 538.7 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,336 of 3,771
- CA rank
- #303 of 371
- Safer than
- 12% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 27%
- 5-year change
- up 97%
- Population
- 108,414
- Reporting agency
- Costa Mesa Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Costa Mesa Police Department (FBI ORI CA0300400) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Costa Mesa, CA
Also known as
- Harper
- Goat Hill
- Thurin
- Fairview
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. Costa Mesa (red), California (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Costa 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 | 2019 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 273.6(312) | 430.7(488) | 589.3(647) | 734.8(788) | 538.7(584) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 1.8(2) | 0.9(1) | 2.8(3) | 2.8(3) |
| Rape | 45.6(52) | 56.5(64) | 60.1(66) | 62.5(67) | 65.5(71) |
| Robbery | 91.2(104) | 102.4(116) | 126.6(139) | 74.6(80) | 71.0(77) |
| Aggravated assault | 136.8(156) | 270.0(306) | 401.7(441) | 595.0(638) | 399.4(433) |
| Property crime | 3292.5(3,755) | 3188.4(3,613) | 3577.0(3,927) | 2875.9(3,084) | 2088.3(2,264) |
| Burglary | 394.6(450) | 452.7(513) | 491.9(540) | 372.1(399) | 244.4(265) |
| Larceny | 2572.6(2,934) | 2381.8(2,699) | 2717.1(2,983) | 2192.4(2,351) | 1576.4(1,709) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 311.3(355) | 325.6(369) | 348.0(382) | 284.4(305) | 256.4(278) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Costa Mesa, CA 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 Costa 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 Costa Mesa calculated?
- Costa Mesa's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the California state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to California 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 Costa 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 California
Comparable California cities by population.
Compare Costa Mesa to other places
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