California, with its diverse geographical environment and climate, has become a top destination for many people to travel to or settle down. However, not every place in the state is safe. According to the latest survey in 2025, the safest city is in Orange County in Southern California, while the most dangerous city remains Oakland in Northern California.
Independent security review website SafeWise.com’s latest report revealed that 64% of Californians express extreme concerns about their safety in daily life, the highest proportion in the country, significantly exceeding last year’s 50%.
Therefore, SafeWise experts calculated safety rankings for over a hundred cities in California based on violent crime and property crime data from the FBI. Although some cities may not agree with these rankings, experts emphasize that the rankings aim to highlight cities with low crime rates. Hence, the terms “safest” and “most dangerous” are specifically defined based on this criterion only.
Cities with populations below a certain threshold or those that did not submit complete crime reports to the FBI were excluded from this year’s report.
In Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County, Southern California, the city was named the safest in California for 2025, with an average of 0.48 violent crimes and 4.25 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
The second-ranked city is Danville in Northern California, with an average of 0.8 violent crimes and 7.39 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
The other eight safest cities in California are Aliso Viejo, Lincoln, Yorba Linda, Calexico, Laguna Niguel, Simi Valley, San Ramon in the San Francisco East Bay, and Lake Forest in Southern California.
Irvine, a city popular among the Chinese community in Orange County, ranked 14th with an average of 0.8 violent crimes and 15.54 property crimes per 1,000 residents, while Orange ranked 30th and Azusa ranked 48th.
SafeWise experts noted that in the safest cities, the probability of property crimes occurring is ten times higher on average than violent crimes. Several cities with a significant Chinese population in Southern California ranked lower due to higher rates of property crimes.
California also has cities that deter people due to high crime rates. According to statistics from “Safe and Sound Security,” a security system installation and low-voltage wiring company in California, Oakland in Northern California remains the most dangerous city, with an average of 16.85 violent crimes and 60.23 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
Emeryville ranked second, with an average of 8 violent crimes and 123.93 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
The other eight cities deemed the most unsafe are Commerce, San Bernardino, Stockton, Marysville, Red Bluff, Barstow, Vallejo, and Richmond. ◇
(This article is provided for general reference information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal, real estate, or financial planning advice.)