Riverside crime: the official numbers
Every California police agency reports crimes to the Department of Justice, which publishes them on OpenJustice. The table shows offenses reported by the Riverside Police Department, which covers the city. It does not include unincorporated areas with a Riverside mailing address, such as Highgrove or Woodcrest, which the Riverside County Sheriff's Department patrols.
| Year | Violent crimes | Property crimes | Violent cleared | Property cleared |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,686 | 9,790 | 39.0% | 10.3% |
| 2020 | 1,491 | 9,980 | 34.8% | 8.0% |
| 2021 | 1,474 | 9,528 | 37.7% | 6.7% |
| 2022 | 1,652 | 10,366 | 43.2% | 6.5% |
| 2023 | 1,761 | 10,911 | 36.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024 | 1,887 | 9,067 | 39.1% | 7.8% |
| 2025 | 1,735 | 7,018 | 41.6% | 8.5% |
Violent crime here means homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 2025 Riverside police reported 13 homicides, 128 rapes, 313 robberies and 1,281 aggravated assaults. Property crime means burglary (884), motor vehicle theft (1,023) and larceny-theft (5,111). The cleared columns show the share of offenses closed by an arrest or by exceptional means in the same year.
Riverside crime rate per 1,000 residents compared
| Area, 2025 | Violent crimes per 1,000 | Property crimes per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Riverside (city police) | 5.4 | 22.0 |
| All agencies in Riverside County | 2.8 | 15.5 |
| California, all agencies | 4.3 | 18.0 |
We divided the DOJ counts by Census population (American Community Survey 2020 to 2024: 319,069 for the city, 2,478,600 for the county and 39,287,377 for the state). Riverside's rates are above the county and state figures. The county figure includes many smaller suburbs and rural areas, so a central city with a downtown, a university and big shopping centers is expected to sit above it.
Is crime going up or down in Riverside?
Both measures fell in 2025. Property crime peaked in 2023 at 10,911 offenses, fell 17% to 9,067 in 2024 and another 23% to 7,018 in 2025, the lowest in the seven years shown. Vehicle theft dropped from 1,885 in 2023 to 1,023 in 2025 and burglary from 1,833 to 884. Violent crime rose three years running, from 1,474 in 2021 to 1,887 in 2024, driven by aggravated assaults (934 to 1,320), then fell 8% to 1,735 in 2025, still 2.9% above 2019. Robberies fell from 453 in 2023 to 313 in 2025, while homicides were 10 in 2024 and 13 in 2025.
One year is a short window, and counts can shift with reporting practice. Look at the direction over several years, and check the city's dashboard (below) for 2026, which the DOJ has not yet published.
What crime numbers can and cannot tell you
A citywide rate covers very different places: downtown, the UC Riverside area, freeway shopping centers, industrial parks and quiet hillside streets. Offenses cluster where people gather: shopping centers, transit stops, nightlife and busy corridors. A home a few blocks from a commercial strip can see very different activity from one on a cul-de-sac.
Counts also depend on what gets reported. Many thefts and minor assaults are never reported, and a rise in reports can follow a change in policing or an easier online report form. That is why this page gives official counts and methods, not a ranking of the safest neighborhoods: no official dataset supports a neighborhood ranking, and we do not label any part of Riverside safe or unsafe. Use the tools below for the streets you care about, and visit at different times of day.
How to check crime near a Riverside address
The Riverside Police Department publishes its own data through the city's crime statistics page. The city notes that the data comes from a database that changes constantly and reflects one point in time.
Riverside Police crime mapping dashboard
The city lists its Crime Mapping Dashboard as crime data "for last year to date". Zoom to the block, filter by type, and compare a few nearby streets rather than looking at one pin.
Riverside Police "Crimes Near Me" app
The Crimes Near Me application shows the most recent two months of reported crimes around an address. It is the quickest way to see current activity near a home you are about to make an offer on.
Riverside downloadable crime data
The city's transparency portal offers crime reports for the past two years as a download. A spreadsheet lets you count incidents within a few blocks of an address and see how they change month to month.
California DOJ OpenJustice for Riverside
OpenJustice holds yearly crimes and clearances for every agency back to 1985, including the figures above. Use it to compare Riverside police with the Riverside County Sheriff (for unincorporated addresses) or with nearby city departments.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
The FBI Crime Data Explorer shows the same agency's figures in national format, useful for comparing Riverside with cities in other states.
California Megan's Law website
The state's Megan's Law website lets you search registered sex offenders by address. The Riverside Police Department's Megan's Law page explains the local rules.
Fire, flood and earthquake risk in Riverside
Crime is one risk on a property. In Riverside, natural hazards can cost more over time, through insurance premiums and repairs.
Wildfire. Hillside streets and homes near open space, such as the land around Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park, can sit in mapped fire hazard zones. Look up the address on CAL FIRE's fire hazard severity zone map, and get insurance quotes before you remove your contingencies. See our wildfire zones guide and FAIR Plan guide.
Flood. Riverside lies along the Santa Ana River, and arroyos such as the Tequesquite Arroyo, the city's largest, cut through older neighborhoods. Check the flood zone on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center.
Earthquake. Southern California's active faults are close, and many Riverside homes were built before modern bracing rules. Read our earthquake insurance guide and check the natural hazard disclosure in your purchase packet.
Sign up for Riverside County emergency alerts; the city also runs its own Riverside Alert notifications.
A checklist before you buy or rent in Riverside
- Confirm whether the address is inside Riverside city limits (city police) or unincorporated (county sheriff), and look up the right agency's data.
- Open the Crimes Near Me app for the last two months, and the dashboard for the year to date.
- Download the city's crime reports and count incidents within a few blocks, compared with a second street you are considering.
- Visit on a weekday evening and a weekend night.
- Search the Megan's Law site by address.
- Check the fire hazard zone, FEMA flood zone and insurance quotes before your contingency period ends.
- Ask neighbors or the HOA about recent issues such as package or catalytic converter theft.
For the rest of the picture, see is Riverside a good place to live, Riverside neighborhoods and the statewide California crime data guide.