A small town in Los Angeles County has received the inauspicious honor of being named the most burglarized city in California.
The city of Vernon, located in the Southeast part of greater Los Angeles regularly referred to as the Gateway Cities, was named the most burglarized city in California by home security research company Safewise.
Safewise analyzed publicly available FBI crime data to compile a list of the most burglarized cities in the nation, using reports of burglaries per 100 people.
Vernon landed at the No. 1 spot for California, boosted by its small population and disproportionate amount of burglaries in the mostly industrial burough.
The town has a population of only 208, according to recent U.S. Census data, but recorded a total of 110 burglaries in the most recent FBI statistics from 2023. That means more than half of the city’s population (52.88%) experienced a burglary that year.
Vernon had far and away the highest rate of burglaries of all cities included in the national rankings. The next closest was Sauget, Illinois, with a burglary rate of 7.58.
Safewise acknowledged in its report that Vernon’s ranking is definitely an outlier, with multiple contributing factors responsible for the starting figure.
Regardless, the company says burglaries are a growing problem nationwide, both in regularity and monetary damages.
“In 2024, burglars got away with an average of $6,000 in loot per incident — about five times more than victims lost in 2000,” SafeWise says in its report.
The home security research company also conducted a survey to learn more about how Americans protect their property. Safewise says only 27% of Americans use their own security systems, while nearly half use at least a security camera. Guard animals and firearms are the second- and third-most popular ways Americans choose to protect their homes, the company said.
For the complete list of most burglarized cities in each state, click here.