The crime rate in La Mesa is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 21 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in La Mesa is 1 in 48. Based on FBI crime data, La Mesa is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to California, La Mesa has a crime rate that is higher than 66% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

How does the crime rate in La Mesa compare to similar sized communities across America? When NeighborhoodScout compared La Mesa with other communities its size, we found that the crime rate was near the average for all other communities of similar size. So, whether La Mesa's crime rate is high or low compared to all places in the US, when we control for population size and compare it to places that are similar in size, it is near the middle of the pack in crime rate; not much more or less dangerous, and about what we would expect from the statistics.

Now let us turn to take a look at how La Mesa does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in La Mesa.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in La Mesa occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in La Mesa; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 263. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that La Mesa's rate for property crime is 17 per one thousand population. This makes La Mesa a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in La Mesa is one in 59.

Importantly, we found that La Mesa has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in La Mesa is one in 292.