State profile · CA · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in California

Federal Clery Act filings for all 590 tracked California campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, Grossmont College currently has the lowest rate.

590
Institutions tracked
2.11
Avg campus rate / 1k (590 of 590 scored)
2.95
Statewide rate / 1k
#31
Rank by avg campus rate
2,666,243
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, Grossmont College has the lowest rate in California

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 590 tracked campuses in California, 346 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, Grossmont College has the lowest rate at 0.07 per 1,000 students. This comparison excludes other Clery tables and unreported harm, so review the details before drawing a safety conclusion.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

campuses tracked
590
average campus, per 1,000 (590 of 590 scored)
2.11
lowest nonzero rate - Grossmont College
0.07
campuses at zero in score categories
346

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet CA · California 2.11/1k campus avg · #31/59

RATE-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-FLAT

  • RATE-MID 2.11/1k
  • RANK-MID #31/59
  • PHOTO-FINISH Colorado · ±0.01
  • ZERO-HEAVY 59% zero
  • WT-LARGE-HOT Δ −0.85
  • BOOK-FULL 590/590
  • CONC-FLAT top5 9%

Nearest campus-rate peer: Colorado (-0.01/1k)

California sheet RATE-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-FLAT · peer Colorado. Codes from this state’s OPE Campus Safety filing: unweighted campus rate, corpus rank (low = safer), photo-finish peer state, zero-report share, campus-vs-weighted gap, scored book, top-five enrollment concentration. Not a moving recommendation.

Clery plate RATE-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-FLAT. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is Colorado (-0.01/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, Grossmont College leads at 0.07/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

Most scored campuses in California (346 of 590) reported zero in the 2024 score categories and stay unranked against each other. Among the nonzero reporters, Grossmont College leads at 0.07/1k, then Long Beach City College (0.08/1k); Norco College (0.09/1k). A high zero share is a filing pattern, not a proof that campuses are safer.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around California

Lowest/highest poles plus states nearest California on unweighted average campus Clery rate. Full ladder: /rankings/.

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around California's 2.11/1k unweighted campus average, not a full 50-state board reprint.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey (Clery Act) As of 2024

Safest colleges in California, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 244 California campuses with at least one incident in those score categories. Showing the top 50 here so the page stays crawlable; positions are numbered within the full nonzero group.

1
Grossmont College El Cajon · 14,440 students
Enrollment
14,440
Incidents /1k
0.07
3
Norco College Norco · 11,351 students
Enrollment
11,351
Incidents /1k
0.09
5
Santa Ana College Santa Ana · 27,248 students
Enrollment
27,248
Incidents /1k
0.11
10
Moorpark College Moorpark · 14,583 students
Enrollment
14,583
Incidents /1k
0.14
11
Mission College Santa Clara · 6,909 students
Enrollment
6,909
Incidents /1k
0.14
12
Canada College Redwood City · 6,625 students
Enrollment
6,625
Incidents /1k
0.15
13
Sierra College Rocklin · 19,125 students
Enrollment
19,125
Incidents /1k
0.16
14
Yuba College Marysville · 6,320 students
Enrollment
6,320
Incidents /1k
0.16
19
Rio Hondo College Whittier · 17,441 students
Enrollment
17,441
Incidents /1k
0.17
20
Unitek College Fremont · 5,725 students
Enrollment
5,725
Incidents /1k
0.17
21
Cuesta College San Luis Obispo · 11,283 students
Enrollment
11,283
Incidents /1k
0.18
23
Skyline College San Bruno · 9,572 students
Enrollment
9,572
Incidents /1k
0.21
26
Taft College Taft · 4,464 students
Enrollment
4,464
Incidents /1k
0.22
27
Cuyamaca College El Cajon · 8,905 students
Enrollment
8,905
Incidents /1k
0.22
29
Foothill College Los Altos Hills · 12,949 students
Enrollment
12,949
Incidents /1k
0.23
30
Coalinga College Coalinga · 4,175 students
Enrollment
4,175
Incidents /1k
0.24
31
Ventura College Ventura · 12,222 students
Enrollment
12,222
Incidents /1k
0.25
34
Butte College Oroville · 10,968 students
Enrollment
10,968
Incidents /1k
0.27
37
Palomar College San Marcos · 19,550 students
Enrollment
19,550
Incidents /1k
0.31
40
Merced College Merced · 12,472 students
Enrollment
12,472
Incidents /1k
0.32
47
Cerritos College Norwalk · 21,859 students
Enrollment
21,859
Incidents /1k
0.37
48
Citrus College Glendora · 10,429 students
Enrollment
10,429
Incidents /1k
0.38
# Campus EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 Grossmont College El Cajon · 14,440 students 14,440 0.07 4% of the leader · rank #1
2 Long Beach City College Long Beach · 24,985 students 24,985 0.08 4% of the leader · rank #2
3 Norco College Norco · 11,351 students 11,351 0.09 4% of the leader · rank #3
4 College of San Mateo San Mateo · 9,901 students 9,901 0.10 4% of the leader · rank #4
5 Santa Ana College Santa Ana · 27,248 students 27,248 0.11 4% of the leader · rank #5
6 Imperial Valley College Imperial · 8,873 students 8,873 0.11 4% of the leader · rank #6
7 Victor Valley College Victorville · 8,423 students 8,423 0.12 4% of the leader · rank #7
8 Las Positas College Livermore · 8,103 students 8,103 0.12 4% of the leader · rank #8
9 American River College Sacramento · 30,462 students 30,462 0.13 4% of the leader · rank #9
10 Moorpark College Moorpark · 14,583 students 14,583 0.14 4% of the leader · rank #10
11 Mission College Santa Clara · 6,909 students 6,909 0.14 4% of the leader · rank #11
12 Canada College Redwood City · 6,625 students 6,625 0.15 4% of the leader · rank #12
13 Sierra College Rocklin · 19,125 students 19,125 0.16 4% of the leader · rank #13
14 Yuba College Marysville · 6,320 students 6,320 0.16 4% of the leader · rank #14
15 Berkeley City College Berkeley · 6,278 students 6,278 0.16 4% of the leader · rank #15
16 College of the Canyons Santa Clarita · 18,075 students 18,075 0.17 4% of the leader · rank #16
17 Moreno Valley College Moreno Valley · 11,920 students 11,920 0.17 4% of the leader · rank #17
18 Mt San Jacinto Community College District San Jacinto · 17,627 students 17,627 0.17 4% of the leader · rank #18
19 Rio Hondo College Whittier · 17,441 students 17,441 0.17 4% of the leader · rank #19
20 Unitek College Fremont · 5,725 students 5,725 0.17 4% of the leader · rank #20
21 Cuesta College San Luis Obispo · 11,283 students 11,283 0.18 4% of the leader · rank #21
22 Napa Valley College Napa · 4,844 students 4,844 0.21 4% of the leader · rank #22
23 Skyline College San Bruno · 9,572 students 9,572 0.21 4% of the leader · rank #23
24 Solano Community College Fairfield · 9,282 students 9,282 0.22 4% of the leader · rank #24
25 West Los Angeles College Culver City · 9,255 students 9,255 0.22 4% of the leader · rank #25
26 Taft College Taft · 4,464 students 4,464 0.22 4% of the leader · rank #26
27 Cuyamaca College El Cajon · 8,905 students 8,905 0.22 4% of the leader · rank #27
28 Irvine Valley College Irvine · 13,018 students 13,018 0.23 4% of the leader · rank #28
29 Foothill College Los Altos Hills · 12,949 students 12,949 0.23 4% of the leader · rank #29
30 Coalinga College Coalinga · 4,175 students 4,175 0.24 4% of the leader · rank #30
31 Ventura College Ventura · 12,222 students 12,222 0.25 4% of the leader · rank #31
32 Sacramento City College Sacramento · 19,920 students 19,920 0.25 4% of the leader · rank #32
33 Santiago Canyon College Orange · 11,897 students 11,897 0.25 4% of the leader · rank #33
34 Butte College Oroville · 10,968 students 10,968 0.27 4% of the leader · rank #34
35 Los Angeles Pierce College Woodland Hills · 16,906 students 16,906 0.30 4% of the leader · rank #35
36 Mt San Antonio College Walnut · 29,971 students 29,971 0.30 4% of the leader · rank #36
37 Palomar College San Marcos · 19,550 students 19,550 0.31 4% of the leader · rank #37
38 Barstow Community College Barstow · 3,226 students 3,226 0.31 4% of the leader · rank #38
39 College of the Desert Palm Desert · 12,861 students 12,861 0.31 4% of the leader · rank #39
40 Merced College Merced · 12,472 students 12,472 0.32 4% of the leader · rank #40
41 Golden Gate University San Francisco · 3,098 students 3,098 0.32 4% of the leader · rank #41
42 Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill · 17,228 students 17,228 0.35 4% of the leader · rank #42
43 The Master's University and Seminary Santa Clarita · 2,860 students 2,860 0.35 4% of the leader · rank #43
44 East Los Angeles College Monterey Park · 33,677 students 33,677 0.36 4% of the leader · rank #44
45 Cerro Coso Community College Ridgecrest · 5,549 students 5,549 0.36 4% of the leader · rank #45
46 San Diego Mesa College San Diego · 19,212 students 19,212 0.36 4% of the leader · rank #46
47 Cerritos College Norwalk · 21,859 students 21,859 0.37 4% of the leader · rank #47
48 Citrus College Glendora · 10,429 students 10,429 0.38 4% of the leader · rank #48
49 West Valley College Saratoga · 7,655 students 7,655 0.39 4% of the leader · rank #49
50 Smith Chason College Los Angeles · 2,447 students 2,447 0.41 4% of the leader · rank #50

194 additional nonzero-reporting campuses rank below this top-50 list in the same rate order.

Look up any campus via the Campus Safety Incident Tool or browse all schools.

Unranked campuses (346): zero score or no normalized rate

346 filed zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents in the score categories; other Clery tables can still contain reports. Neither group supports a safety ordering, so these campuses are listed alphabetically without positions. Showing 15 alphabetically; the remaining 331 stay out of this HTML table so large states stay crawlable.

ABCO Technology Inglewood · 75 students
Enrollment
75
Incidents /1k
0.00
# Campus EnrollmentIncidents /1k
ABC Adult School Cerritos · 173 students 173 0.00
ABCO Technology Inglewood · 75 students 75 0.00
Abraham Lincoln University Glendale · 112 students 112 0.00
Academy for Jewish Religion California Los Angeles · 58 students 58 0.00
Academy for Salon Professionals Northridge · 134 students 134 0.00
Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences Oakland · 114 students 114 0.00
Academy of Esthetics and Cosmetology San Fernando · 30 students 30 0.00
Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College-Berkeley Berkeley · 115 students 115 0.00
Advance Beauty College Garden Grove · 346 students 346 0.00
Advance Beauty Techs Academy San Jacinto · 90 students 90 0.00
Advanced Career Institute Visalia · 664 students 664 0.00
Agape College of Business and Science Fresno · 43 students 43 0.00
Alhambra Medical University Alhambra · 140 students 140 0.00
Alliant International University-San Diego San Diego · 4,530 students 4,530 0.00
America Evangelical University Gardena · 307 students 307 0.00

Open any remaining campus from the school directory or the incident tool.

The largest universities in California by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of California-Los Angeles (47,335); University of Southern California (46,566); University of California-Berkeley (45,882), then 587 more. The 15 biggest California institutions by total enrolled students, from the same federal IPEDS collection, each shown with its 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate. The five largest alone account for 9% of the 2,666,243 students enrolled across all 590 tracked California institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near Thomas Aquinas College (566 students, 5.30/1k).

# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles · 47,335 students 47,335 100% of the leader · rank #1 9.38
2 University of Southern California Los Angeles · 46,566 students 46,566 98% of the leader · rank #2 9.64
3 University of California-Berkeley Berkeley · 45,882 students 45,882 97% of the leader · rank #3 14.19
4 University of California-San Diego La Jolla · 44,256 students 44,256 93% of the leader · rank #4 13.49
5 California State University-Fullerton Fullerton · 43,662 students 43,662 92% of the leader · rank #5 1.51
6 California State University-Long Beach Long Beach · 42,003 students 42,003 89% of the leader · rank #6 1.17
7 San Diego State University San Diego · 41,137 students 41,137 87% of the leader · rank #7 1.36
8 University of California-Davis Davis · 40,065 students 40,065 85% of the leader · rank #8 15.52
9 California State University-Northridge Northridge · 38,313 students 38,313 81% of the leader · rank #9 3.55
10 San Jose State University San Jose · 37,661 students 37,661 80% of the leader · rank #10 2.28
11 University of California-Irvine Irvine · 37,297 students 37,297 79% of the leader · rank #11 10.13
12 East Los Angeles College Monterey Park · 33,677 students 33,677 71% of the leader · rank #12 0.36
13 California State University-Sacramento Sacramento · 31,943 students 31,943 67% of the leader · rank #13 3.73
14 Bakersfield College Bakersfield · 30,746 students 30,746 65% of the leader · rank #14 1.04
15 American River College Sacramento · 30,462 students 30,462 64% of the leader · rank #15 0.13

Enrollment is total reported students, not full-time equivalent, and a branch campus is reported separately from its parent institution. A larger campus is not a less safe one: the incident rate beside it is already per 1,000 students.

Nationwide states with similar campus scale or Clery rate

Two nationwide peer sets for California: closest on tracked campus count (590 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (2.11/1k here). The rate-neighbourhood and keep-peer blocks above stay geo-adjacent; these columns are cross-state ABS comparisons with deduped link sets.

Similar campus count

Nearest other states by number of tracked postsecondary institutions (≥5 scored campuses in corpus).

Similar campus Clery rate

Nearest other states by unweighted average on-campus Clery rate. Campus-count peers above are excluded.

Read with this state

Keep-peer handoff: Colorado sits nearest on unweighted campus average (-0.01/1k). Inside California, open Grossmont College's campus sheet next.

Grossmont College profile → | All states → | California net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

California campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in California?

Among California campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, Grossmont College has the lowest rate (0.07 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: Long Beach City College (0.08/1k); Norco College (0.09/1k). 346 campuses reported zero in those score categories and are listed separately without a safety ordinal, because a zero report is not the same as a proven safer campus.

How does PlainCampus rank campus safety in California?

In California, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - Grossmont College currently leads that nonzero list at 0.07/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in California are compared?

This page covers 590 tracked higher-education institutions in California, serving about 2,666,243 enrolled students combined across 221 cities. 244 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 346 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of California-Los Angeles (47,335); University of Southern California (46,566); University of California-Berkeley (45,882). Nearby state averages for context: Colorado (2.10/1k); Mississippi (2.00/1k); North Carolina (2.22/1k); Virginia (2.23/1k); Indiana (2.24/1k); New York (1.95/1k).

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.