California’s homicide rate is the lowest it has been in decades, while violent and property crime have also declined
California’s crime rate fell last year to historic lows in several major categories, including violent crimes such as robbery and murder, and property crimes and auto thefts also declined, state officials announced.
State leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, says this decrease is due to the efforts to fight crime that have been improved throughout the country.
“California continues to make significant progress in improving public safety, with all crime rates falling by 2025,” according to a news release from Newsom’s office.
The number of homicides fell from 1,666 to 1,374 last year, a 17.5% decrease, according to the state Department of Justice. As a result, the homicide rate in 2025 was 3.5 per 100,000 people, the lowest rate since crime records began six decades ago, according to a news release.
The robbery rate fell 19.9%, while violent crime fell 10.2% and property crime fell 14.3%, according to state data. A significant decrease in the rate of motor vehicle crime, which decreased by 25.8%.
According to the 2025 California Crime Report, there were 3.6% more arrests last year than in 2024.
“Our police are smarter, more organized, and more cooperative,” Bonta said in a statement. “We have created effective systems for organized retail theft, human trafficking and fentanyl forces, and programs targeting violent criminals.”
In Los Angeles alone, preliminary data shows that the crime rate dropped to historic lows last year not seen since the 1960s, and that LA is the safest it has been in generations. But experts cautioned against reading too much into the year-to-year numbers, which can fluctuate based on many factors — including how authorities classify and count certain cases.
“The data suggests that it’s probably the big picture stuff that’s moving,” said Jeff Asher, a crime data analyst and consultant who runs an analytics firm called AH Datalytics.
Asher also said that he is not surprised by these reports.
“The homicide rate has been going down dramatically over the last four or so years, and we’re starting to get official data that confirms what all the data we already have is telling us,” Asher said.
In California, the rate of hate crimes is reported to have decreased by 3.4% since 2024, but hate crimes involving racial or ethnic discrimination increased by 6.2%, according to the 2025 Hate Crime in California report.
Hispanics or Latinos were the victims of the largest increase in racially or ethnically motivated hate crimes, according to the report. The increase in that area was 30.3%, partly fueled by hatred of illegal immigrants. Hate crimes motivated by gender bias increased by 23.8%.
In a press conference, Bonta reiterated his commitment to the fight against hate in California, saying that the information obtained is accessible and important in preventing such crimes in the state.
“Even though reported hate crimes decreased by 2025, the data makes it clear that many Californians continue to be targeted because of who they are, where they come from, how they worship, who they love, or how they identify,” said Bonta.
