Carlsbad crime: the official numbers, 2015 to 2025
Every California police agency reports offenses to the state, and the DOJ publishes them on OpenJustice. The figures below come from the DOJ's Crimes and Clearances file covering 1985 to 2025, published in July 2026, for the Carlsbad Police Department. Violent crimes are homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crimes are burglary, motor vehicle theft and larceny-theft.
| Year | Violent crimes | Property crimes | Burglaries | Vehicle thefts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 172 | 2,134 | 366 | 141 |
| 2016 | 209 | 2,188 | 369 | 167 |
| 2017 | 247 | 2,209 | 432 | 139 |
| 2018 | 243 | 2,100 | 299 | 152 |
| 2019 | 240 | 2,135 | 297 | 167 |
| 2020 | 224 | 1,841 | 256 | 157 |
| 2021 | 251 | 2,023 | 295 | 194 |
| 2022 | 241 | 2,042 | 295 | 185 |
| 2023 | 226 | 1,849 | 271 | 152 |
| 2024 | 225 | 1,708 | 267 | 123 |
| 2025 | 236 | 1,226 | 196 | 74 |
Carlsbad's 2025 crime counts in detail
The 236 violent crimes in 2025 were 4 homicides, 14 rapes, 27 robberies and 191 aggravated assaults. The 1,226 property crimes were 196 burglaries, 74 motor vehicle thefts and 956 larceny-thefts, so theft from cars, shops and homes makes up most reported crime. Property crime in 2025 was the lowest in the 11 years shown, 28% below 2024 and 45% below the 2017 high of 2,209. Violent crime has stayed in a narrow band of 172 to 251 a year.
Carlsbad compared with San Diego County and California
We calculated rates per 100,000 residents using the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 population estimates: 114,373 for Carlsbad, 3,288,774 for San Diego County and 39,287,377 for California, with the DOJ's 2025 counts for every agency in each area.
| 2025, per 100,000 residents | Violent crime | Property crime |
|---|---|---|
| Carlsbad Police Department | 206 | 1,072 |
| All agencies, San Diego County | 318 | 1,191 |
| All agencies, California | 434 | 1,797 |
Carlsbad's violent crime rate was about two-thirds of the county's, and its property crime rate about 10% lower. Cities with large shopping centers, hotels and attractions can record more theft per resident than their population suggests, because offenses are counted where they happen and visitors are not counted as residents.
Cases cleared by Carlsbad police
The same file records clearances, meaning offenses closed by arrest or other means. In 2025 Carlsbad police cleared 177 of 236 violent crimes (75%) and 199 of 1,226 property crimes (16%), against about 46% and 11% statewide. The 2021 clearance counts in the file (39 violent, 72 property) are far below the years on either side; treat that year as a reporting gap rather than a change in policing.
What Carlsbad's crime numbers do and do not tell you
These are crimes reported to police, not all crime, and not the number of victims. A few points matter before reading a trend:
- Reporting systems changed. California agencies have moved from the FBI's older summary system to incident-based reporting (NIBRS), which counts offenses differently. Ask the Carlsbad Police Department when it switched before comparing years either side of the change. The swing in reported rapes, from 17 in 2023 to 7 in 2024 and 14 in 2025, is the kind of change that can reflect how offenses are coded as well as real events.
- Small numbers swing. With four homicides in 2025 and none or one in most earlier years, a single case changes the rate a lot.
- Rates use residents, not visitors. LEGOLAND, the beaches, the resorts and the shopping centers bring in large numbers of people who are not counted in the population.
- Citywide only. The DOJ and FBI publish by agency, not by neighborhood.
Why this page does not rank Carlsbad neighborhoods
No official dataset publishes crime rates for Carlsbad neighborhoods such as La Costa, Aviara or the Village. Lists that grade neighborhoods usually estimate or model figures for areas with no official breakdown, and a grade can push people toward or away from areas for the wrong reasons. We show the citywide record and the tools you can use to look at reported incidents around a particular street. For home values and features by area, see Carlsbad neighborhoods.
How to check crime near a Carlsbad address
ARJIS crime mapping for San Diego County
The Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS) is the joint powers agency that links San Diego County's law enforcement agencies. Its site links to public crime mapping and to UCR summary crime statistics for the region's agencies. Search an address and a radius, and look at several months, not one week.
Carlsbad Police Department
The department's pages sit on the City of Carlsbad website, which refused our automated requests in November 2026, so we could not confirm which crime statistics, maps or logs it currently posts. Visit the site directly, or contact the department's records unit to ask for incident reports or call histories for a block before you buy.
California DOJ OpenJustice
OpenJustice is the best source for long-term trends and comparisons with other California cities using the same definitions, back to 1985. It reports by agency only.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
The FBI's Crime Data Explorer shows data by agency with rates and state and national comparisons. Search for the Carlsbad Police Department and check how many months it reported in each year before comparing.
California's Megan's Law website
The DOJ's Megan's Law site lets you search registered sex offenders by address or area. Run it yourself for any home you are considering, and read the site's terms on how the information may be used.
Fire, flood, coastal and earthquake risk in Carlsbad
Fire hazard zones near Carlsbad's preserves
Homes next to open space, such as the Lake Calavera Preserve, the Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve and the canyons of southeast Carlsbad, can fall in higher fire hazard severity zones, which affect insurance, disclosures and building rules. Check the zone for an address with CAL FIRE's map and see our wildfire zones guide and homeowners insurance guide.
Flood, lagoon and coastal hazards
Low-lying homes near Buena Vista, Agua Hedionda and Batiquitos lagoons and the beach should be checked on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and the state's tsunami hazard maps. California State Parks reported in November 2026 that summer swells and high tides had eroded much of Carlsbad State Beach and closed the Tamarack parking lot to vehicles. Cal OES's MyHazards tool shows several hazards for one address.
Earthquake insurance
Standard homeowners policies exclude earthquake damage. See our earthquake insurance guide, and the seller disclosure guide for the hazard reports you should receive before you buy.
A checklist before you buy or rent in Carlsbad
- Search the address on a crime map for at least six months of reported incidents.
- Compare Carlsbad with nearby cities on OpenJustice using rates, not raw counts.
- Run the Megan's Law search for the address.
- Check the fire hazard zone, FEMA flood zone and tsunami map, then get insurance quotes before removing contingencies.
- Visit at night and on a weekend, especially near the beaches, the Village and LEGOLAND.
- Read the natural hazard disclosure and any HOA rules on gates, lighting and security patrols.
- Ask a local agent about recent sales and listing activity on the street; California Housing Prices's featured Carlsbad agent is one option.