What is the crime rate in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA?

In 2025, the Rancho Santa Margarita Police Department reported 51 violent crimes and 212 property crimes to the FBI.

That is 111 violent and 461 property crimes per 100,000 of the 45,982 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: 111
Property per 100,000: 461
Violent crimes: 51
Property crimes: 212

Crime reported by the Rancho Santa Margarita 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	25	54	209	453	46,157
2024	38	83	240	526	45,633
2025	51	111	212	461	45,982

Violent crimes reported went from 25 in 2023 to 51 in 2025.

Property crimes reported went from 209 in 2023 to 212 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.

Rancho Santa Margarita against California and the nation

Crimes per 100,000 residents, 2025
	Violent crime	Property crime
Rancho Santa Margarita	111	461
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 Rancho Santa Margarita, 2025

Each place’s own police department; rates per 100,000 residents served
Place	Distance	Violent per 100,000	Property per 100,000
Rancho Santa Margarita	—	111	461
Mission Viejo	3.7 mi	118	860
Lake Forest	4.7 mi	165	701
Laguna Hills	6.3 mi	219	849
Laguna Woods	7.7 mi	71	638
Aliso Viejo	8.3 mi	120	621
Laguna Niguel	9.3 mi	114	651
San Juan Capistrano	9.6 mi	169	712
Irvine	10 mi	79	1,156

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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