Crime is a concern for many Californians. Recent federal actions to address crime in cities such as Washington DC, and Memphis, Tennessee have intensified anxieties about the issue. For a clear grasp of the problem, it is important to understand the trends. What do we know about crime in California’s biggest cities?

California’s annual crime levels fell in all major categories between 2023 and 2024 (although shoplifting continued to rise). This is mostly true for the state’s largest cities as well, with some variation by crime type and city. Here, we analyze recent trends in violent and property crime numbers reported monthly by the police departments in California’s eight largest cities.

Some of these cities have seen substantial decreases in violent crime, even while it remained above pre-pandemic levels (defined as the last quarter of 2019) in most. Between the last quarter of 2023 and the last quarter of 2024:

• Both Los Angeles and San Francisco saw violent crime decrease, by 13% and 20%, respectively. In both cities, violent crime was below pre-pandemic levels (by 6% in LA; 35% in SF), with San Francisco experiencing its lowest levels in at least a decade.
• Oakland’s violent crime fell about 23%. Even so, it was 31% higher than in 2019.
• Sacramento and San Diego both experienced decreases, by 5% and 3% respectively. In both cities, violent crime remained above pre-pandemic levels (27% higher in Sacramento, 14% in San Diego).
• Violent crime remained roughly unchanged in San Jose and Long Beach; it is higher in both cities than before the pandemic—by 29% in San Jose and 25% in Long Beach.
• Fresno saw an increase (13%), with violent crime 48% higher than before the pandemic.

Property crime trends also reveal widespread decreases in 2024. All cities but one showed a decline, with the most notable examples being Oakland (28% lower), Sacramento (19%), San Francisco (18%), and Los Angeles (12%). Long Beach and Fresno saw single digit decreases, by 6% and 4% respectively. Only San Jose saw an increase (12%).

Before the pandemic, monthly property crimes tended to remain relatively stable. Since then, some cities have experienced notable fluctuations; most were experiencing property crimes below pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.

• San Francisco saw property crime numbers drop markedly in the immediate wake of the pandemic. It then experienced a steady increase back to pre-pandemic levels, followed by another steep decrease starting in August 2023, bringing the monthly property crime numbers down to 45% below pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.
• Oakland experienced a sudden surge in property crimes in the first half of 2023, followed by a steep decline; by the last quarter of 2024, the numbers were down to 19% below pre-pandemic levels.
• Sacramento and San Diego were also down by double digits compared to pre-pandemic levels, by 19% and 13% respectively.
• Fresno’s incidence of property crime was 9% below pre-pandemic levels.
• Last year’s decreases in Long Beach (by 6%) were not enough to bring down the numbers to 2019 levels; property crime was still 5% above pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.
• Property crime in Los Angeles was still higher than it was pre-pandemic, by 3%; San Jose’s level was essentially the same as last quarter of 2019 (0.1% below).

Crime continues to be a source of concern for Californians, with law enforcement agencies and city leaders working to address the issue with a variety of measures, including adding more police officers, implementing violence prevention strategies, and pursuing targeted local policing strategies focused on crimes like retail theft. Partnerships between the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement in major cities may also have contributed to some of the observed declines and have just been expanded to more cities and regions. Crime rates are subject to notable swings, making continued monitoring of crime trends essential.