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Palo Alto crime statistics by year, 2019 to 2025
Property crime makes up the large majority of what Palo Alto police report: 1,927 property crimes against 107 violent crimes in 2025, by the state’s count. This page lays out each year from 2019 to 2025 with offense detail and rates per 100,000 residents, and flags the December 2021 reporting change that splits the series.
Palo Alto Police-Reported Crime by Year
Checked November 6, 2026. Source: the California Department of Justice’s OpenJustice Crimes and Clearances file, released July 1, 2026, rows for the Palo Alto Police Department. The latest full year is 2025. The state’s 2026 file normally follows in July of the next year, so around July 2027.
| Year | Reporting basis | Violent crimes | Homicide | Rape | Robbery | Aggravated assault |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Summary | 86 | 1 | 10 | 46 | 29 |
| 2020 | Summary | 81 | 1 | 12 | 39 | 29 |
| 2021 | Mixed (switch December 1) | 68 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 24 |
| 2022 | Incident-based | 134 | 0 | 22 | 45 | 67 |
| 2023 | Incident-based | 135 | 0 | 20 | 55 | 60 |
| 2024 | Incident-based | 138 | 1 | 25 | 35 | 77 |
| 2025 | Incident-based | 107 | 0 | 12 | 21 | 74 |
| Year | Property crimes | Burglary | Motor vehicle theft | Larceny-theft | Arson |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,983 | 179 | 82 | 1,722 | 8 |
| 2020 | 1,931 | 242 | 119 | 1,570 | 22 |
| 2021 | 1,598 | 176 | 93 | 1,329 | 28 |
| 2022 | 1,945 | 147 | 110 | 1,688 | 16 |
| 2023 | 1,820 | 177 | 116 | 1,527 | 11 |
| 2024 | 1,974 | 147 | 120 | 1,707 | 7 |
| 2025 | 1,927 | 184 | 72 | 1,671 | 15 |
Larceny-theft drives the property total every year, at roughly 1,300 to 1,700 reports, while burglary and vehicle theft each stay in the low hundreds or below. Violent crime counts are small, so a few incidents move them noticeably from year to year.
How the State Groups the Offenses
Violent crime in this file means four offenses: homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime means three: burglary, motor vehicle theft and larceny-theft. Arson has a line of its own. If one event involves more than one offense, the state counts the most serious one only, except that arson is always added.
Counting units differ too. Homicide, rape and aggravated assault count victims, while robbery, burglary, vehicle theft, larceny-theft and arson count incidents.
Rates per 100,000 Residents
To set years of different population side by side, we divided each count by the Department of Finance’s January 1 resident estimate and multiplied by 100,000. The state publishes the counts; the rates are our calculation.
| Year | Residents (DOF, Jan 1) | Violent per 100,000 | Property per 100,000 | Burglary per 100,000 | Vehicle theft per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 68,392 | 125.7 | 2,899.5 | 261.7 | 119.9 |
| 2020 | 68,241 | 118.7 | 2,829.7 | 354.6 | 174.4 |
| 2021 | 67,802 | 100.3 | 2,356.9 | 259.6 | 137.2 |
| 2022 | 67,573 | 198.3 | 2,878.4 | 217.5 | 162.8 |
| 2023 | 68,078 | 198.3 | 2,673.4 | 260.0 | 170.4 |
| 2024 | 68,280 | 202.1 | 2,891.0 | 215.3 | 175.7 |
| 2025 | 68,919 | 155.3 | 2,796.0 | 267.0 | 104.5 |
Palo Alto draws large numbers of workers, shoppers and visitors who don’t live in the city. Rates built on residents alone can read high compared with the number of people actually present on a weekday, which is a reason to lean on the counts as well as the rates.
Why 2021 and 2022 Don’t Line Up
Palo Alto police started reporting through the incident-based system (NIBRS; CIBRS in California) on December 1, 2021, per the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. That makes 2021 a mixed year and 2022 the first full year under the new method. The Department of Justice converts the new data to the old summary format, but the change still shows in the numbers.
Aggravated assault went from 24 in 2021 to 67 in 2022, and the violent crime total roughly doubled the same year. Because the step sits right on the switch, it should not be read as a real rise in crime without other evidence. Years before and after December 2021 are not strictly comparable.
What Isn’t in the Count
- Crimes nobody reported to the police.
- Incidents recorded by other agencies in or around the city, such as the county sheriff or the California Highway Patrol.
- Location detail below the city level.
- 2026 figures, which the state has not released; city dashboard counts follow different rules and are left off.
The state can revise a year’s figures after publishing them. The numbers here match the July 1, 2026 release.
Turning the Figures into Site Decisions
Theft-heavy numbers point to the places theft starts at a property: unlocked bike rooms, open loading doors, cars left in far corners of a lot. Start with your own records, then walk the site with our security assessment checklist and mark what needs a closer look.
Office and lab buildings that empty out at night often use scheduled mobile patrol visits, while front desks and lobbies during the day suit a posted officer. The Palo Alto security guard page describes both for local properties, and our cost calculator gives a monthly figure for either.
Get Help
Vantage officers carry BSIS guard cards and file photo patrol reports, and every client gets a certificate of insurance. A free on-site security review is part of every guard quote. Request a Palo Alto quote to talk through your property.
Sources and Method
- California DOJ OpenJustice: Crimes and Clearances (including Arson), file of July 1, 2026
- California Department of Finance E-4 estimates, 2021-2026 and 2011-2020
- FBI Crime Data Explorer (December 1, 2021 NIBRS start date only)
- Rates: count / January 1 resident estimate x 100,000, to one decimal. Read November 6, 2026.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Where does this page get Palo Alto’s crime data?
From the California Department of Justice, which compiles the annual offense counts Palo Alto police submit. The rows come from the OpenJustice Crimes and Clearances file the state released on July 1, 2026.
Why did violent crime in Palo Alto roughly double in 2022?
Palo Alto police switched to incident-based reporting on December 1, 2021, and 2022 is the first full year on it. Aggravated assault went from 24 to 67 right at that change, so treat the jump as tied to the reporting method until other evidence says more.
What makes up most property crime in Palo Alto?
Larceny-theft. It accounts for 1,671 of the 1,927 property crimes reported in 2025, with burglary at 184 and motor vehicle theft at 72 that year.
Are the per-100,000 rates official figures?
No. They are our own arithmetic on official figures: the Department of Justice count divided by the Department of Finance’s January 1 population estimate, times 100,000.
Will this page show 2026 numbers?
Once the state publishes them, expected around July 2027. Year-to-date dashboard figures use different counting rules, so they are kept off this page.