Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.
Raw data sources:
18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
Date(s) & Update Frequency:
Reflects 2024 calendar year; released from FBI in October 2025 (latest available). Updated annually.
Where is 2025 data?
Methodology:
Our nationwide meta-analysis overcomes the issues inherent in any crime database, including non-reporting and reporting errors. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations….
Read more about Scout's Crime Data
The crime rate in Imperial Beach is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 12 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 Imperial Beach is 1 in 83. Based on FBI crime data, Imperial Beach is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to California, Imperial Beach has a crime rate that is higher than 43% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.
How does the crime rate in Imperial Beach compare to similar sized communities across America? When NeighborhoodScout compared Imperial Beach with other communities its size, we found that the crime rate was near the average for all other communities of similar size. So, whether Imperial Beach'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 Imperial Beach 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 Imperial Beach.
For Imperial Beach, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Imperial Beach is one in 187.
Moreover, the rate of property crime in Imperial Beach; burglary, larceny ($50 or more), grand theft auto, and arson; is 7 per 1,000 residents. This is about average for all cities and towns in America of all population sizes.
Importantly, we found that Imperial Beach 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 Imperial Beach is one in 341.
Imperial Beach Crime
Data
FAQ on NeighborhoodScout's Crime Data
NeighborhoodScout® provides exclusive crime risk analytics for every neighborhood in America with up to 98% predictive accuracy. Crime risk indices are nationally comparable on a 1 – 100 scale, where 100 means safer than 100% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Crime risk data are updated annually. Raw crime incidents are sourced from all 18,000+ local law enforcement agencies – municipal, county, transit, park, port, university, tribal and more, assigned to localities, then built into NeighborhoodScout’s proprietary predictive models to provide a comprehensive crime risk profile for every neighborhood and address-vicinity in the U.S.
