CrimeMetric

Crime in Lancaster, California

Major crime in Lancaster is 24% above the U.S. rate per resident: 2.2 times for persons crimes and about the same for property crimes. Expected major crimes are down 10.2% from a year earlier.

Modeled estimates per resident, not counts of incidents. How we calculated this

Major crime
124
24% above the U.S. rate
about the California rate
down 10.2% in a year
Persons crimes
224
2.2 times the U.S. rate
1.7 times the California rate
down 5.3% in a year
Property crimes
102
about the U.S. rate
13% below the California rate
down 12.4% in a year
Social disorder
90
10% below the U.S. rate
11% below the California rate
down 6.7% in a year

Index: crimes per resident compared with the U.S., where 100 is the U.S. rate and 200 is twice it.

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Crime by type

Robbery stands out most, at 3.2 times the U.S. rate

Expected crimes per year in Lancaster for each type, and the index against the U.S. rate per resident.

Citywide indexWhere the middle half of residents live

IndexPer year

Persons crimes

Robbery320237
Murder22814

How crime varies across Lancaster

The middle half of Lancaster residents live in neighborhoods with a major-crime index between 57 and 144; the typical (median) resident's is 85. The citywide figure (124) is higher than that because crime concentrates in a smaller set of areas.

Map of Lancaster, with its census block groups shaded by major-crime index band
Block groups shaded by major-crime index, in the bar's bands below; pale gray where fewer than 100 people live. Tap one to compare it. Highways and boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau.
  • 0–5014.3%
  • 50–10042.6%
  • 100–20028.9%
  • 200–40012.8%
  • 400+1.5%

Share of residents by the index of their census block group, a neighborhood of roughly 600 to 3,000 people.

When it happens

Highest on weeknights

Major-crime index by time of week, against the U.S. rate for the same hours.

Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm108
Sunday to Thursday nights, 6pm to 6am143
Saturday and Sunday, 6am to 6pm123
Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm to 6am127
Trend and outlook

Major crime fell 10.2% in a year; across California it fell 7.4%

Past yearBy 2031
Major crime-10.2%CA -7.4%-14.0%CA -14.1%
Persons crimes-5.3%CA -3.5%-7.6%CA -6.1%
Property crimes-12.4%CA -8.4%-17.0%CA -16.1%
Social disorder-6.7%CA -4.9%-11.6%CA -9.4%

Change in expected crimes, with California as a whole in gray. The past year uses the reporting agencies' year-to-date FBI data; 2031 is the model's projection.

Similar-size places

Lancaster against U.S. places with 100,000 to 250,000 residents

108 of the 268 other places of this size have a higher major-crime index than Lancaster; the middle of the group is 109. The 9 nearest in population:

Springfield, MO167,446272
Eugene, OR170,206136
Lancaster, CA172,480124
Denton, TX174,395114
Charleston, SC171,699102
Oceanside, CA168,477102
Surprise, AZ178,28851

Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; residents in gray.

Nearby places

Lancaster has a higher major-crime index than 6 of its 8 nearest neighbors

The 8 nearest cities and towns we cover, by major-crime index. The closest, Quartz Hill (4 mi), is 37% below Lancaster's rate.

Mojave25 mi181
Sun Village16 mi127
Lancaster124
Palmdale8 mi118
Rosamond12 mi100
Acton14 mi83

Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; distances between where residents live, in miles.

Questions about crime in Lancaster

What are the most common crimes in Lancaster?

By expected count, the most common persons and property crimes are aggravated assault (about 866 a year), motor vehicle theft (about 851 a year) and burglary (about 632 a year). Compared with the U.S., robbery stands out most: 3.2 times the U.S. rate per resident.

How we calculated this

Each police agency's crimes, as reported to the FBI, are spread across the census block groups it serves using population, jobs, points of interest and, where available, local incident records. Lancaster's figures add up its 86 block groups. The index compares crimes per resident with the U.S. rate.

  • Lancaster's published incident records inform the estimate for every neighborhood.
  • 48.1% of residents live in block groups whose estimate has high confidence (80% interval within about 5x).
  • Rates are per resident, so places where many people work or visit but few live, such as downtowns, airports and stadiums, can read high.
  • Disorderly conduct and trespassing are modeled, because the FBI records them only through arrests.
  • Residents: 172,480. Model updated Oct 20, 2026. Release 2026-2026-10-20-2

Full method and validation·Data sources

Cite this page

CrimeMetric. "Crime in Lancaster, California." Vorp Labs, model updated Oct 20, 2026. https://crimemetric.com/ca/lancaster

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Major-crime index, U.S. = 100