Violent crime in San Diego dropped last year, mirroring a national trend, but with one major exception.
Major crimes like homicide, aggravated assault and robbery have declined significantly in the city of San Diego in the years since the COVID-era crime wave. Rape had been following that trend as well, until last year. Rapes in the city jumped by 8.7% to 335 in 2025, from 308 a year earlier.
The latest data comes from an annual report from the Major City Chiefs Association, which found robbery and homicide rates in the nation’s biggest cities dropped by nearly 20% last year.
San Diego was consistent with the national decline in homicides, with the city’s rate falling 18.75% in 2025 to a total of 39, from 48 a year before. Local robberies did not drop quite as steeply as they did nationwide, falling instead a little over 10% in last year.
But the picture on rapes in the city was more complicated.
The number of rapes in the country’s biggest cities fell by 8.8% last year, a less significant decline than seen in other violent crimes.
Other populous California cities — San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Oakland — saw rape fall along with other violent crime. But San Diego wasn’t alone in seeing an increase. Rapes increased in Fresno, and in areas covered by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, which saw a 15% increase.
The overall downward trend in violent crime has continued since a recent peak in 2021, when the San Diego Police Department recorded 57 homicides. Preliminary data last year indicated a year-over-year decline in 2024, though final data showed murders ultimately increased that year.
Most violent crimes in San Diego are now below their pre-pandemic levels, but aggravated assaults are still a third higher than they were in 2019. At one point, San Diego’s total violent crime rate being higher than 2019 could be blamed solely on aggravated assaults.
