Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
La Mesa, CA Crime Grade
How La 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
8/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
California
7/10
vs. California cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in La Mesa, CA was 397.1 per 100,000 residents (241 incidents over a population of 60,686). That puts La Mesa Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 4% below the California statewide rate of 415.5.
That ranks La Mesa #3,012 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 20% of them, and #246 of 371 in California. Violent crime is down 6% year over year and up 30% over the last five years.
La Mesa, CA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- D (8/10)
- California Grade
- C (7/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 397.1 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,012 of 3,771
- CA rank
- #246 of 371
- Safer than
- 20% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 6%
- 5-year change
- up 30%
- Population
- 60,686
- Reporting agency
- La Mesa Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by La Mesa Police Department (FBI ORI CA0370800) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About La Mesa, CA
Also known as
- La Mesa Springs
- Allison Springs
- Lamesa
- La Mesa Heights
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. La Mesa (red), California (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
La 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 | 305.2(183) | 309.9(187) | 381.6(229) | 420.9(254) | 397.1(241) |
| Murder | 3.3(2) | 1.7(1) | 3.3(2) | 6.6(4) | 1.6(1) |
| Rape | 23.3(14) | 18.2(11) | 26.7(16) | 13.3(8) | 24.7(15) |
| Robbery | 78.4(47) | 81.2(49) | 98.3(59) | 86.2(52) | 72.5(44) |
| Aggravated assault | 200.1(120) | 208.8(126) | 253.3(152) | 314.8(190) | 298.3(181) |
| Property crime | 1971.1(1,182) | 2121.6(1,280) | 1681.4(1,009) | 1390.2(839) | 1354.5(822) |
| Burglary | 320.2(192) | 288.4(174) | 291.6(175) | 222.0(134) | 207.6(126) |
| Larceny | 1284.0(770) | 1463.5(883) | 1048.2(629) | 894.8(540) | 944.2(573) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 340.2(204) | 338.1(204) | 331.6(199) | 261.8(158) | 187.9(114) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the La 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 La 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 La Mesa calculated?
- La 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 La 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 La Mesa to other places
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