Sunlight bounces off Folsom Lake, trails twist past an old railroad trestle, and the Johnny Cash Trail reminds everyone this suburban city has deeper stories than shopping plazas and business parks.
The question many potential residents ask when searching homes for sale in Folsom is whether the overall crime rate matches that welcoming first impression.
Below is an up-to-date, data-driven look at crime statistics, police resources, and community safety programs so you can decide if Folsom ranks among the best places to live in Sacramento County.
Along the way, you will see how the city stacks up against nearby cities and the national average, plus where to find block-level numbers before choosing a neighborhood, and how the city’s parks and things to do in Folsom shape daily life.
What Are The Official Crime Rates in Folsom, CA?
The Folsom Police Department (FPD) publishes weekly dashboards.
Aggregated annual summaries submitted to the California Department of Justice show that the violent-crime tally stayed below 2.0 incidents per 1,000 residents in 2024, while property-crime averaged 18.1 incidents per 1,000. That combination places Folsom among the safest mid-size cities in the state.
Third-party mapping platforms echo the city’s own data. CrimeGrade’s 2025 model calculates a property-crime rate of 31.1 per 1,000 residents and an overall crime rate of 41.2 per 1,000, still lower than both the California state average and the national suburbs benchmark. Incidents cluster around commercial lots near East Bidwell Street and the Palladio mall, illustrating how crime occurs unevenly across town.
How Does Crime in Folsom Compare to U.S. Averages?
The FBI’s August 2025 release shows violent crime fell 4.5 percent nationwide during 2024, continuing a slow, post-pandemic decline. Against that backdrop, Folsom’s violent-crime rate sits roughly a third lower than the national figure, confirming what many locals already sense when they look at weekly police logs.
Property crime tells a more mixed story. Folsom’s tally comes in a few points above the U.S. average yet stays comfortably below the California state average, a gap often driven by vehicle break-ins around major shopping centers. Put simply: the city beats the country on personal-safety metrics and lands in the middle of the pack on theft-related numbers, a trade-off familiar to many well-trafficked suburbs.
How Does Crime in Folsom Compare to Nearby Towns?
Neighboring Roseville and El Dorado Hills post similar violent-crime numbers, but Roseville’s 2024 property-crime tally ran about 10% higher than Folsom’s.
Sacramento’s core neighborhoods, by contrast, register property-crime rates that are higher than the national average and more than double those in the Folsom area, reinforcing Folsom’s status as one of the safest choices within a 25-mile commute radius.
How to Research Crime Data for Specific Neighborhoods in Folsom?
Start with the Folsom Police Department’s interactive crime map, which lets you enter an address and filter by offense type and date range; recent calls reveal patterns such as catalytic-converter thefts near retail centers.
For a day-by-day narrative, the department’s Police Log PDFs archive thirty days of incidents, listing each report number, category, and street to help you tally crimes per block or subdivision.
To see longer-term trends, the California Department of Justice database provides five-year charts for burglary, theft, and aggravated assault, allowing you to compare the crime rate in Folsom with other cities in the state and with the California state average overall.
Who Provides Law Enforcement and Emergency Services in Folsom?
The Folsom Police Department staffs patrol, K-9, traffic, detectives, and school-resource teams out of headquarters on Natoma Street.
Officers coordinate closely with the Sacramento County Sheriff and the FBI Sacramento Field Office on regional issues ranging from retail-theft rings to cybercrime. Weekly stats, an annual transparency report, and live scanner updates keep Folsom residents informed and engaged.
Fire and EMS are handled by the Folsom Fire Department’s six stations, and mutual-aid agreements cover large-scale incidents.
For specialized emergencies near Folsom Prison, the maximum-security facility that anchors local history, the California Department of Corrections provides its own response teams, with FPD assisting on perimeter traffic control when required.
Is There a Community Watch in Folsom?
The city runs a robust Neighborhood Watch program with Block Captains, a Citizens Assisting Public Safety (CAPS) volunteer corps, and seasonal events like National Night Out.
CAPS members conduct vacation checks, support trail patrols, and staff safety fairs. FPD’s Dog Walker Watch encourages walkers and runners to report suspicious activity, and recent catalytic-converter-etching clinics illustrate the city’s proactive stance on home security.
FAQs About Crime in Folsom, CA
Is Folsom considered one of the safest suburbs in Sacramento County?
Yes. Comparative crime statistics place the city in the top tier for safety among nearby cities of similar population, with violent-crime numbers especially low.
What types of crime are most common?
Non-violent property crime, such as package thefts, shoplifting, and vehicle break-ins, makes up the majority of reports, especially near shopping centers.
Does the rate of crime in Folsom vary by neighborhood?
It does. East-side subdivisions near Folsom Lake log fewer reports than commercial corridors near Highway 50. Use the FPD Crime Map for street-level data.
What is the typical commute to downtown Sacramento?
Regional traffic studies list an average one-way commute of about 26 minutes as of April 2024, a modest rise over the last decade.
Sources
Folsom Police Department Weekly Statistics (Aug 24 – 30 2025)
NeighborhoodScout Folsom Crime Rates (2024 data)
CrimeGrade Property-Crime Map (2025)
California DOJ Crime Statistics Portal
FBI 2024 Crime in the Nation Release
Folsom Police Crime Map
CAPS Volunteer Program Description
Neighborhood Watch Program
Zillow Folsom Housing Market Snapshot (June 2025)
Sacramento News & Review Commute Analysis (Apr 2024)
Legal note: This article provides publicly available crime data and program descriptions. Under federal and California fair-housing laws, safety is only one factor in evaluating a place to live; readers should review multiple data points and avoid assumptions about any protected class.
