Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2024
Palm Desert, CA Crime Grade
How Palm Desert 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
6/10
vs. California cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2024, the violent crime rate in Palm Desert, CA was 323.7 per 100,000 residents (169 incidents over a population of 52,205). That puts Palm Desert Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 32% below the California statewide rate of 478.7.
That ranks Palm Desert #2,741 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 27% of them, and #191 of 371 in California. Violent crime is up 16% year over year and up 28% over the last five years.
Palm Desert, CA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- D (8/10)
- California Grade
- C (6/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 323.7 / 100k
- National rank
- #2,741 of 3,771
- CA rank
- #191 of 371
- Safer than
- 27% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 16%
- 5-year change
- up 28%
- Population
- 52,205
- Reporting agency
- Palm Desert Police Department
- Data year
- 2024 · FBI UCR
Reported by Palm Desert Police Department (FBI ORI CA0331800) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Palm Desert, CA
Also known as
- Sand Hole
- Old McDonald Ranch
- Palm Village
Location
In the Coachella Valley, 14.4 km (9 mi) west of the city of Indio. (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. Palm Desert (red), California (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Palm Desert vs. U.S., 2024 — 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 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 252.9(136) | 232.3(125) | 350.6(182) | 278.1(144) | 323.7(169) |
| Murder | 5.6(3) | 0.0(0) | 3.9(2) | 1.9(1) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 13.0(7) | 9.3(5) | 17.3(9) | 19.3(10) | 21.1(11) |
| Robbery | 44.6(24) | 52.0(28) | 61.6(32) | 65.7(34) | 78.5(41) |
| Aggravated assault | 189.7(102) | 171.0(92) | 267.7(139) | 191.2(99) | 224.1(117) |
| Property crime | 3447.6(1,854) | 2913.9(1,568) | 3898.5(2,024) | 3636.8(1,883) | 2835.0(1,480) |
| Burglary | 628.5(338) | 516.6(278) | 583.6(303) | 575.6(298) | 446.3(233) |
| Larceny | 2569.9(1,382) | 2053.5(1,105) | 2844.9(1,477) | 2734.9(1,416) | 2162.6(1,129) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 238.0(128) | 336.4(181) | 470.0(244) | 316.7(164) | 218.4(114) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Palm Desert, 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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert calculated?
- Palm Desert'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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert to other places
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