Santa Cruz crime by year: California DOJ figures
The California Department of Justice collects yearly counts from every law enforcement agency and publishes them on OpenJustice. The table below uses the DOJ's Crimes and Clearances file for 1985 to 2025 (published July 2026, the latest year available) and shows offenses reported to the Santa Cruz Police Department only.
| Year | Violent crimes | Property crimes | Arson |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 389 | 2,932 | 34 |
| 2020 | 309 | 2,237 | 45 |
| 2021 | 413 | 2,071 | 38 |
| 2022 | 447 | 2,226 | 40 |
| 2023 | 412 | 1,504 | 35 |
| 2024 | 376 | 1,543 | 44 |
| 2025 | 332 | 1,549 | 17 |
What made up the 2025 Santa Cruz totals
The 332 violent crimes in 2025 were 33 rapes, 65 robberies and 234 aggravated assaults, with no homicides. The 1,549 property crimes were 76 burglaries, 100 motor vehicle thefts and 1,373 larceny-thefts, which include shoplifting and theft from vehicles. Larceny made up 89% of all property crime. Burglaries fell from 348 in 2019 to 76 in 2025 on this file.
Santa Cruz rates per 1,000 residents compared
Raw counts only make sense next to population. Using the Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimate of 61,607 residents for the city (2020-2024), Santa Cruz recorded about 5.4 violent and 25.1 property crimes per 1,000 people in 2025. Across Santa Cruz County, all agencies together reported 862 violent and 3,728 property crimes for 264,926 residents, or 3.3 and 14.1 per 1,000. Statewide the same file gives 4.3 and 18.0 per 1,000. These are our calculations from the DOJ counts and Census populations.
Between 2019 and 2025 the city's violent count fell 14.7% and its property count fell 47.2%. Countywide the falls were 22.1% and 46.8%. Statewide, violent crime fell 1.6% and property crime fell 22.9% over the same years.
Why 2024 and later Santa Cruz figures are not like-for-like
The city's own Crime Data page says the Santa Cruz Police Department moved in 2024 from the older Summary Reporting System to the incident-based NIBRS and CIBRS systems used by the FBI and the state. Two things change with that switch. First, the old hierarchy rule no longer applies: under the summary system an incident with a rape and a robbery counted only as a rape, while the new system records up to 10 offenses per case. Second, the department publishes its incident-based figures as point-in-time reports that keep changing until the year's final submission is accepted. Treat any jump or drop around 2024 with care, because part of it may be the counting method rather than the streets.
Santa Cruz Police Department 2025 preliminary counts
The department's 2025 quarterly report, labeled preliminary, lists 234 aggravated assaults, 65 robberies, 29 rapes, 78 burglaries, 1,395 larceny and theft offenses and 101 motor vehicle thefts for the year, with no murders. Its total of all Group A offenses, which also covers simple assault, vandalism, fraud and drug violations, was 4,773. They differ slightly from the DOJ's 2025 counts in the table above, because the department's report is a preliminary, point-in-time count and its Group A total covers more offense types.
Santa Cruz figures for the first half of 2026
The 2026 report covers the first two quarters only. It lists 136 aggravated assaults, 31 robberies, 37 burglaries, 338 larceny and theft offenses and 29 vehicle thefts, against 121, 31, 45, 716 and 55 in the first half of 2025 on the 2025 report. Larceny in particular is lower so far, but the department warns that these counts rise as late reports and case updates come in, so wait for the year-end file before reading a trend into them.
Which agency covers your Santa Cruz address
A Santa Cruz mailing address does not always mean the city police respond. Census boundary files show that ZIP 95062 includes the unincorporated communities of Live Oak, Pleasure Point and Twin Lakes as well as part of the city, and 95065 also takes in part of Live Oak. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office serves the unincorporated areas of the county, so crimes there are counted under the Sheriff, not the city. The university campus has its own force, the UC Santa Cruz Police Department, which the DOJ reports separately: it recorded 20 violent and 139 property crimes in 2025. Check the city limits for any address with the county's parcel tools before you compare numbers, since the city table above does not include Live Oak or Pleasure Point.
Tools to check crime near a Santa Cruz street
City of Santa Cruz crime data reports
The police department's Crime Data page posts yearly and quarterly statistics as PDF files, including a table that compares the old and new reporting categories. It covers the whole city, not individual streets. For a report about a specific incident or address, contact the department's records section.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff crime map
For Live Oak, Pleasure Point, Twin Lakes and other unincorporated addresses, the Sheriff's Office links a public crime map on Citizen Service Portal under its Transparency menu. The same menu lists monthly agency statistics and a calls-for-service log, which shows what deputies were sent to rather than confirmed crimes.
UC Santa Cruz crime log and map
The UCSC Police crime dashboard maps reports on the campus and lets you filter by type and date for the past 30 days. Its Clery Act page carries the annual security report, which covers the campus and university-controlled property for the last three years.
OpenJustice and the FBI Crime Data Explorer
Use OpenJustice for long runs of yearly data by agency, and the FBI's Crime Data Explorer to see the Santa Cruz Police Department beside state and national rates. Check which months an agency reported in full before trusting a trend, especially for 2024.
California Megan's Law search
The DOJ's Megan's Law website lets you search registered sex offenders around an address. California purchase contracts point buyers to this database instead of requiring sellers to research it, so run the search yourself.
Coastal, flood and fire checks matter as much in Santa Cruz
In a coastal city with a river through downtown and wooded canyons to the north, natural hazards often cost owners more than crime. The city's 2025-2030 Local Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan names wildfire, flooding and sea level rise among the risks it plans for.
Flood zones near the San Lorenzo River and the coast
Search the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. If it falls in a high-risk zone and you use a federally backed loan, the lender will require flood insurance, which a standard homeowners policy does not include.
Tsunami areas along the Santa Cruz shore
The California Geological Survey publishes tsunami hazard area maps with a Santa Cruz County page. They are for evacuation planning and do not meet real estate disclosure rules, so use them as a guide alongside the seller's disclosure.
One search for several hazards
Cal OES MyHazards shows earthquake, flood, fire and tsunami zones for an address. Wildfire zones and how they affect insurance are covered in our California wildfire zones guide; the seller's Natural Hazard Disclosure is explained in the seller disclosure guide, and coverage options in the homeowners insurance guide.
Steps before you buy or rent in Santa Cruz
- Confirm whether the address is inside city limits or in unincorporated Live Oak, Pleasure Point or Twin Lakes, and use the right agency's data.
- Look at the Sheriff's crime map or the city's quarterly reports for the months you care about, and remember that citywide totals include busy visitor areas such as the Boardwalk and the wharf.
- Walk the block on a weekday evening and a summer weekend, when beach traffic is heaviest.
- Search the Megan's Law site for the address.
- Check FEMA flood, tsunami and fire zones and read the Natural Hazard Disclosure.
- Get insurance quotes before removing your contingencies.
For prices and areas, see our Santa Cruz neighborhoods guide and the Santa Cruz ZIP code comparison. For statewide context, our California crime rate ranking uses the same DOJ file for every city.