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Santa Cruz crime statistics by year, 2019 to 2025
Santa Cruz police recorded 332 violent crimes and 1,549 property crimes in 2025, according to the California Department of Justice. The tables below give every year from 2019 to 2025 by offense, with rates per 100,000 residents, and explain why 2023 is incomplete and why the years on either side of it don’t line up neatly.
Reported Crime in Santa Cruz, Year by Year
Last checked November 6, 2026. Counts come from the California Department of Justice OpenJustice file Crimes and Clearances, released July 1, 2026, for the Santa Cruz Police Department’s own jurisdiction. 2025 is the newest full year; the state publishes 2026 around July 2027.
| Year | Reporting basis | Violent crimes | Homicide | Rape | Robbery | Aggravated assault |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Summary | 389 | 0 | 29 | 88 | 272 |
| 2020 | Summary | 309 | 2 | 33 | 76 | 198 |
| 2021 | Summary | 413 | 3 | 26 | 102 | 282 |
| 2022 | Summary | 447 | 1 | 38 | 122 | 286 |
| 2023 | Switch year, incomplete | 412 | 1 | 21 | 120 | 270 |
| 2024 | Incident-based | 376 | 3 | 26 | 63 | 284 |
| 2025 | Incident-based | 332 | 0 | 33 | 65 | 234 |
| Year | Property crimes | Burglary | Motor vehicle theft | Larceny-theft | Arson |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2,932 | 348 | 221 | 2,363 | 34 |
| 2020 | 2,237 | 267 | 236 | 1,734 | 45 |
| 2021 | 2,071 | 246 | 210 | 1,615 | 38 |
| 2022 | 2,226 | 253 | 191 | 1,782 | 40 |
| 2023 | 1,504 | 118 | 110 | 1,276 | 35 |
| 2024 | 1,543 | 83 | 97 | 1,363 | 44 |
| 2025 | 1,549 | 76 | 100 | 1,373 | 17 |
Read the 2023 row with care. The Department of Justice notes that Santa Cruz police did not report all data for January to December 2023, so that year’s totals are incomplete. 2023 was also the year the department changed reporting systems, covered below.
What the Categories Cover
The file tracks eight offense types that police report to the state. Violent crime is homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime is burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft. Arson is reported on its own line. When one incident includes several offenses, only the most serious is counted, with arson the exception.
Homicide, rape and aggravated assault are counted by victim. Robbery, burglary, vehicle theft, larceny-theft and arson are counted by incident. In Santa Cruz, larceny-theft is the largest line in every year of the table.
Rates per 100,000 Residents
We divided each count by the California Department of Finance’s January 1 population estimate for the same year and multiplied by 100,000. These are our own calculations, not rates the Department of Justice publishes.
| Year | Residents (DOF, Jan 1) | Violent per 100,000 | Property per 100,000 | Burglary per 100,000 | Vehicle theft per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 65,527 | 593.6 | 4,474.5 | 531.1 | 337.3 |
| 2020 | 64,717 | 477.5 | 3,456.6 | 412.6 | 364.7 |
| 2021 | 57,158 | 722.6 | 3,623.3 | 430.4 | 367.4 |
| 2022 | 62,705 | 712.9 | 3,550.0 | 403.5 | 304.6 |
| 2023 | 63,035 | 653.6 | 2,386.0 | 187.2 | 174.5 |
| 2024 | 63,049 | 596.4 | 2,447.3 | 131.6 | 153.8 |
| 2025 | 62,999 | 527.0 | 2,458.8 | 120.6 | 158.7 |
Two cautions apply to the rates. The Department of Finance estimate for January 1, 2021 is 57,158, well below the years around it, and that low base pushes the 2021 rates up; the counts are the better guide for 2021. And because the rates use residents only, a city with many students, visitors and commuters can read high per resident compared with the number of people actually present.
The 2023 Reporting Change
Santa Cruz police moved from the older summary reporting format to incident-based reporting (NIBRS, in California CIBRS) starting November 1, 2023, so 2024 is the first full year on the new system. The state converts incident-based data back to the summary format so a series can run across the change, yet the counts still shift at the switch.
The years across it are not strictly comparable. Burglary went from 253 in 2022 to 118 in 2023 and 83 in 2024, and motor vehicle theft went from 191 to 110 to 97 over the same years. Those drops line up with the reporting change and the incomplete 2023 file, so treat them as a change in the record as much as on the street until the department or the state says otherwise. Comparing 2019 directly with 2025 crosses the same line.
What These Figures Leave Out
- Crimes no one reported to police.
- Incidents handled by other agencies working in or near the city, including UC Santa Cruz police, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff, the California Highway Patrol and State Parks.
- Neighborhood, street or address detail: these are citywide totals.
- Any 2026 figures, which the state has not released.
The Department of Justice can revise a year after release. These figures match the July 1, 2026 file.
From City Totals to a Plan for Your Site
Citywide counts set the backdrop; your own records show what happens at your door. Pull the past year of incident notes, camera clips, tenant complaints and repair tickets for broken locks or windows, then walk the property with our security assessment checklist. Larceny-theft is the biggest line in the city table, so pay close attention to unlocked storage, loading areas and parked cars.
For coastal properties that sit empty overnight, scheduled mobile patrol checks cover doors, lots and lighting at uneven times, and each visit ends in a photo patrol report. The Santa Cruz security guard page covers coverage options in the city.
Get Help
If you want a second set of eyes on a Santa Cruz property, Vantage’s on-site security review is free with a guard quote, and our contracts run month to month. Request a quote with your address and the hours that concern you.
Sources and Method
- California DOJ OpenJustice, Crimes and Clearances (including Arson), 1985-2025 file released July 1, 2026
- California Department of Finance E-4 population estimates, 2021-2026 and 2011-2020
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, used only for the NIBRS start date
- Rates: reported count / DOF January 1 population x 100,000, rounded to one decimal. Read November 6, 2026.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Where do these Santa Cruz crime numbers come from?
From the California Department of Justice’s OpenJustice Crimes and Clearances file, which compiles what the Santa Cruz Police Department reports each year. The 2019-2025 rows are from the July 1, 2026 release.
Why is 2023 marked incomplete?
The Department of Justice notes that Santa Cruz police did not report all data for 2023, which was also the year the department switched to incident-based reporting on November 1. Its totals run low for that reason.
Are UC Santa Cruz campus incidents included?
No. The table covers the city police department’s jurisdiction only. UC Santa Cruz police, the county sheriff, the CHP and State Parks report separately to the state.
When will 2026 Santa Cruz figures be out?
The Department of Justice releases each year’s statewide file the following July, so 2026 figures are expected around July 2027. This page adds them once the state publishes the file.
Can Vantage use these figures to plan security for our property?
Yes, as background. Bring your own incident notes to the on-site security review, free with a guard quote, and we will match posts or patrol checks to what your property records show.