What is the crime rate in Lake Forest, CA?

In 2025, the Lake Forest Police Department reported 144 violent crimes and 613 property crimes to the FBI.

That is 165 violent and 701 property crimes per 100,000 of the 87,471 residents it serves.

Across California the rates were 435 and 1,822.

Nationally they were 330 and 1,552.

Figures last updated on November 12, 2026.

Violent per 100,000: 165
Property per 100,000: 701
Violent crimes: 144
Property crimes: 613

Crime reported by the Lake Forest Police Department, 2023 to 2025

Offenses known to law enforcement, reported to the FBI; rates per 100,000 residents of the area the department serves
Year	Violent crimes	Violent per 100,000	Property crimes	Property per 100,000	Residents served
2023	114	133	852	996	85,533
2024	129	150	720	839	85,811
2025	144	165	613	701	87,471

Violent crimes reported went from 114 in 2023 to 144 in 2025.

Property crimes reported went from 852 in 2023 to 613 in 2025.

In a small town a handful of incidents moves these numbers a long way, so one year’s change says little on its own.

Lake Forest against California and the nation

Crimes per 100,000 residents, 2025
	Violent crime	Property crime
Lake Forest	165	701
Orange County	264	1,336
California	435	1,822
United States	330	1,552

These are rates per resident; they are not adjusted for visitors, commuters or the size of the area, which raise or lower a town’s figures without changing anybody’s risk.

Crime reported in places near Lake Forest, 2025

Each place’s own police department; rates per 100,000 residents served
Place	Distance	Violent per 100,000	Property per 100,000
Lake Forest	—	165	701
Mission Viejo	3.3 mi	118	860
Laguna Woods	4.3 mi	71	638
Laguna Hills	4.6 mi	219	849
Rancho Santa Margarita	4.7 mi	111	461
Irvine	5.7 mi	79	1,156
Aliso Viejo	6.1 mi	120	621
Laguna Niguel	8.8 mi	114	651
Laguna Beach	9.2 mi	187	1,100

Neighboring departments count the same offenses the same way, but their areas, populations and visitors differ, so a difference between two towns is a starting point for a question, not an answer.

How to read these numbers

These are offenses known to the police and reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program: crimes nobody reported, or that a department did not record, are not in them.

Violent crime is murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crime is burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

A department reports the crimes in the area it polices, which can differ from the town’s boundaries, and the FBI estimates the population it serves.

The FBI asks that these figures not be used to rank places or to judge how safe a neighborhood is: crime depends on many local factors, and the counts describe a whole town, not any street or home.

A year is shown only when the department reported all twelve months.

FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting statistics and their proper use

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