La Mesa, CA Crime Statistics For 2025

Demographics | Crime | Cost Of Living
Updated: 2025-10-24

Crime Rate In La Mesa, CA Summary

Crime in La Mesa research summary. HomeSnacks has been using Saturday Night Science to report crime data in La Mesa over the past eight years using the FBI Crime Explorer. Based on the most recently available data released on October 17, 2023, we found the following about crime in La Mesa:

  • There were 1,083 total crimes committed in La Mesa in the last reporting year.
  • On a rate basis, there were 1,794.5 total crimes per 100K people in La Mesa.
  • The overall crime rate in La Mesa is -15.32% below the national average.
  • La Mesa ranks #203 safest out of 460 cities in California.
  • La Mesa ranks #6,794 safest out of 9,896 cities in the United States.

Because the crime rate is so low in America, we use "per 100,000 people" to make the number a bit easier to compare across locations visually. It's mathematically the same as per capita comparisons and isn't meant to convey that 100,000+ people live in a location.

Additional research about crime in California

La Mesa Vs California And National Crime Rates

According to the most recent data from the FBI, the total crime rate in La Mesa is 1,794.5 per 100,000 people. That's -15.32% lower than the national rate of 2,119.2 per 100,000 people and -30.03% lower than the California total crime rate of 2,564.5 per 100,000 people.

Statistic Count
Raw
La Mesa
/ 100k People
California
/ 100k People
National
/ 100k People
Total Crimes Per 100K 1,083 1,794.5 2,564.5 2,119.2
Murder 4 6.6 4.5 5.0
Robbery 50 82.8 119.1 61.0
Aggravated Assault 189 313.2 325.8 256.0
Violent Crime 251 415.9 486.0 359.0
Burglary 133 220.4 305.8 229.0
Larceny 541 896.4 1,345.2 1,272.0
Car Theft 158 261.8 427.5 259.0
Property Crime 832 1,378.6 2,078.4 1,760.0

La Mesa Crime Compared To California Averages

Each category of crime indexed to the worst per capita in California.
Data Source -- FBI UCR 2024.

Violent Crime Rates In La Mesa

251
Violent Crimes
415.9
Violent Crimes / 100k People
15.85%
Above The National Average
  • There were 251 violent crimes in La Mesa in the last reporting year.
  • The violent crime rate in La Mesa is 415.9 per 100,000 people.
  • You have a 1 in 240.4 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in La Mesa each year. That compares to a 1 in 205.8 chance statewide.
  • That's 15.85% higher than the national rate of 359.0 per 100,000 people.
  • And -14.43% lower than the California violent crime rate of 486.0 per 100,000 people.

Property Crime Rates In La Mesa

832
Property Crimes
1,378.6
Property Crimes / 100k People
-21.67%
Below The National Average
  • There were 832 property crimes in La Mesa in the last reporting year.
  • The property crime rate in La Mesa is 1,378.6 per 100,000 people.
  • You have a 1 in 72.5 chance of being the victim of a property crime in La Mesa each year. That compares to a 1 in 0.0 chance nationally.
  • That's -21.67% lower than the national rate of 1,760.0 per 100,000 people.
  • And -33.67% lower than the California property crime rate of 2,078.4 per 100,000 people.

Crime In Cities Around La Mesa

City Population Count
Raw
Total Crime
/ 100k People
Property Crime
/ 100k People
Violent Crime
/ 100k People
San Diego, CA 1,389,024 28,923 2,082.3 1,670.0 412.2
El Cajon, CA 101,983 1,973 1,934.6 1,500.3 434.4
Santee, CA 59,351 490 825.6 571.2 254.4
Poway, CA 47,808 343 717.5 583.6 133.9
Lemon Grove, CA 27,559 418 1,516.7 1,074.1 442.7
Spring Valley, IL 5,403 33 610.8 592.3 18.5

La Mesa SnackAbility

8.5
/10
Overall SnackAbility
Jobs
7/10
Housing
9.5
Affordability
3
Diversity
9.5
Safety
6
Amenities
10
Education
8.5
Commute
6
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