Watsonville, CA Crime Statistics For 2025

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

Crime Rate In Watsonville, CA Summary

Crime in Watsonville research summary. HomeSnacks has been using Saturday Night Science to report crime data in Watsonville 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 Watsonville:

  • There were 796 total crimes committed in Watsonville in the last reporting year.
  • On a rate basis, there were 1,581.2 total crimes per 100K people in Watsonville.
  • The overall crime rate in Watsonville is -25.39% below the national average.
  • Watsonville ranks #169 safest out of 460 cities in California.
  • Watsonville ranks #6,265 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

Watsonville Vs California And National Crime Rates

According to the most recent data from the FBI, the total crime rate in Watsonville is 1,581.2 per 100,000 people. That's -25.39% lower than the national rate of 2,119.2 per 100,000 people and -38.34% lower than the California total crime rate of 2,564.5 per 100,000 people.

Statistic Count
Raw
Watsonville
/ 100k People
California
/ 100k People
National
/ 100k People
Total Crimes Per 100K 796 1,581.2 2,564.5 2,119.2
Murder 0 0.0 4.5 5.0
Robbery 27 53.6 119.1 61.0
Aggravated Assault 146 290.0 325.8 256.0
Violent Crime 201 399.3 486.0 359.0
Burglary 70 139.1 305.8 229.0
Larceny 375 744.9 1,345.2 1,272.0
Car Theft 150 298.0 427.5 259.0
Property Crime 595 1,182.0 2,078.4 1,760.0

Watsonville 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 Watsonville

201
Violent Crimes
399.3
Violent Crimes / 100k People
11.22%
Above The National Average
  • There were 201 violent crimes in Watsonville in the last reporting year.
  • The violent crime rate in Watsonville is 399.3 per 100,000 people.
  • You have a 1 in 250.4 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in Watsonville each year. That compares to a 1 in 205.8 chance statewide.
  • That's 11.22% higher than the national rate of 359.0 per 100,000 people.
  • And -17.84% lower than the California violent crime rate of 486.0 per 100,000 people.

Property Crime Rates In Watsonville

595
Property Crimes
1,182.0
Property Crimes / 100k People
-32.84%
Below The National Average
  • There were 595 property crimes in Watsonville in the last reporting year.
  • The property crime rate in Watsonville is 1,182.0 per 100,000 people.
  • You have a 1 in 84.6 chance of being the victim of a property crime in Watsonville each year. That compares to a 1 in 0.0 chance nationally.
  • That's -32.84% lower than the national rate of 1,760.0 per 100,000 people.
  • And -43.13% lower than the California property crime rate of 2,078.4 per 100,000 people.

Crime In Cities Around Watsonville

City Population Count
Raw
Total Crime
/ 100k People
Property Crime
/ 100k People
Violent Crime
/ 100k People
Salinas, CA 158,233 3,481 2,199.9 1,675.4 524.5
Morgan Hill, CA 44,083 751 1,703.6 1,508.5 195.1
Marina, CA 23,021 353 1,533.4 1,242.3 291.0
Scotts Valley, CA 11,765 224 1,904.0 1,598.0 306.0

Watsonville SnackAbility

6
/10
Overall SnackAbility
Jobs
6/10
Housing
9
Affordability
3
Diversity
7
Safety
5
Amenities
10
Education
4
Commute
6
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