Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Morro Bay, CA Crime Grade
How Morro Bay 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
6/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
California
3/10
vs. California cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Morro Bay, CA was 189.6 per 100,000 residents (20 incidents over a population of 10,549). That puts Morro Bay 42% below the U.S. rate of 325.3 and 54% below the California statewide rate of 415.5.
That ranks Morro Bay #1,982 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 47% of them, and #103 of 371 in California. Violent crime is down 36% year over year and down 56% over the last five years.
Morro Bay, CA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- C (6/10)
- California Grade
- A (3/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 189.6 / 100k
- National rank
- #1,982 of 3,771
- CA rank
- #103 of 371
- Safer than
- 47% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 36%
- 5-year change
- down 56%
- Population
- 10,549
- Reporting agency
- Morro Bay Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Morro Bay Police Department (FBI ORI CA0400300) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Morro Bay, CA
Also known as
- Morro
- Mono Bay
- El Morro Bay
- Moro Bay
- Morro Beach
Location
6.4 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Los Osos and 9.6 km (6 mi) southeast of Cayucos. (US-T121)
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. Morro Bay (red), California (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Morro Bay 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 | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 434.9(46) | 508.9(55) | 299.9(32) | 294.3(31) | 189.6(20) |
| Murder | 9.5(1) | 9.3(1) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 9.5(1) | 27.8(3) | 28.1(3) | 66.5(7) | 28.4(3) |
| Robbery | 28.4(3) | 18.5(2) | 18.7(2) | 19.0(2) | 19.0(2) |
| Aggravated assault | 387.6(41) | 453.4(49) | 253.1(27) | 208.9(22) | 142.2(15) |
| Property crime | 1522.2(161) | 1415.7(153) | 937.3(100) | 835.5(88) | 1033.3(109) |
| Burglary | 302.5(32) | 212.8(23) | 150.0(16) | 38.0(4) | 47.4(5) |
| Larceny | 1134.5(120) | 1091.9(118) | 740.5(79) | 712.1(75) | 910.0(96) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 66.2(7) | 83.3(9) | 46.9(5) | 47.5(5) | 47.4(5) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Morro Bay, 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 Morro Bay 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 Morro Bay calculated?
- Morro Bay'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 Morro Bay 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 Morro Bay to other places
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