With a crime rate of 35 per one thousand residents, Barstow 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 29. Within California, more than 89% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Barstow. In fact, after researching dangerous places to live, NeighborhoodScout found Barstow to be one of the top 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S.A.

Importantly, when you compare Barstow to other communities of similar population, then Barstow crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Barstow does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Barstow 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 Barstow.

For Barstow, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Barstow is one in 91.

Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that Barstow experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Barstow's rate for property crime is 24 per one thousand population. This makes Barstow a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in Barstow is one in 42.

Importantly, we found that Barstow 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 Barstow is one in 137.