With a crime rate of 33 per one thousand residents, Del Mar has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 31. Within California, more than 86% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Del Mar.

Separately, it is always interesting and important to compare a city's crime rate with those of similarly sized communities - a fair comparison as larger cities tend to have more crime. NeighborhoodScout has done just that. With a population of 3,882, Del Mar has a combined rate of violent and property crime that is very high compared to other places of similar population size. Regardless of whether Del Mar does well or poorly compared to all other cities and towns in the US of all sizes, compared to places with a similar population, it fares badly. Few other communities of this size have a crime rate as high as Del Mar.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Del Mar 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 Del Mar.

NeighborhoodScout's research shows that Del Mar's violent crime rate is 2 per one thousand inhabitants, which is about average for all communities in America, across all population sizes. Violent crimes that are tracked and included in this rate are armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape (not statutory), and murder and non-negligent manslaughter. Roughly similar to the national average, our analysis shows that your chance of becoming a victim of violent crime in Del Mar is one in 647.

In addition, NeighborhoodScout found that a lot of the crime that takes place in Del Mar is property crime. Property crimes that are tracked for this analysis are burglary, larceny over fifty dollars, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In Del Mar, your chance of becoming a victim of a property crime is one in 32, which is a rate of 31 per one thousand population.

Importantly, we found that Del Mar 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 Del Mar is one in 169.