8 Safest Places To Retire in California

When choosing someplace to retire, safety is likely high on your list of concerns. After all, the last thing you need is to spend your golden years — or whenever you choose to retire — worrying about things like property crime in your neighborhood or how safe it is to walk around late at night.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Crime Data Explorer, California’s violent crime rate is 499.5 per 100,000 people per year. This is higher than the U.S. average of 380.7 per 100,000 people per year.

The overall property crime has come down, but is still 2,343.2 per 100,000 people per year. This is also higher than the U.S. average of 1,954.4 per 100,000 people per year.

That said, certain cities within California have much lower crime rates.

GOBankingRates compiled data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer to determine which California cities have the lowest number of property and violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Only cities with a population above 10,000 residents were considered. Other data was sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces and the Consumer Expenditure Survey for Retired Residents, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Based on the data, these are the eight safest places to retire in California.

• Total population: 21,626
• Population 65 and older: 1,868
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $4,310
• Property crime rate: 3.607
• Violent crime rate: 0.925

In Imperial, nearly 9% of the population consists of older retirees. The cost of living is reasonably with an average annual cost of $51,723, including mortgage. However, the city has a relatively low livability score of 69.

• Total population: 10,678
• Population 65 and older: 2,263
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $32,591
• Property crime rate: 7.679
• Violent crime rate: 0.468

Over 20% of the Hillsborough population consists of those ages 65 and up, making for a decent-sized retirement community. The annual cost of living is high, due to expensive mortgage costs — which average out at just over $30,000 a month.

For those who don’t have a mortgage, this is a very safe — and fairly affordable — place to live.

• Total population: 29,306
• Population 65 and older: 7,648
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $25,742
• Property crime rate: 8.155
• Violent crime rate: 0.409

With an overall livability score of 79, Saratoga is one of the safest California cities to live in, as well as one with a higher quality of life. Just over 26% of the population is older retirees, which again makes for a decent-sized community.

As with Hillsborough, the cost of living is so high primarily due to mortgage costs — not as big of a problem for those without a mortgage.

• Total population: 19,441
• Population 65 and older: 4,528
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $14,581
• Property crime rate: 6.430
• Violent crime rate: 0.566

Ranked in the top five safest places to retire in California, nearly a quarter of Orinda’s population consists of retirees. It has a livability score of 73 and very low property and violent crime per 1,000 residents.

• Total population: 35,692
• Population 65 and older: 5,176
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $7,721
• Property crime rate: 6.024
• Violent crime rate: 0.476

In Moorpark, nearly 15% of the population consists of those ages 65 and up. Even with a monthly mortgage, the annual cost of living is fairly low for California — under $100,000.

• Total population: 42,945
• Population 65 and older: 8,293
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $14,139
• Property crime rate: 6.776
• Violent crime rate: 0.326

Danville has a large retirement community, with nearly a fifth of its residents being 65 and older. The livability score is 75, crime rates are down and costs are relatively low — though they’re much higher for those with a mortgage.

• Total population: 46,889
• Population 65 and older: 4,977
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $8,950
• Property crime rate: 4.692
• Violent crime rate: 0.384

Rancho Santa Margarita is another small city where people can go to retire without worrying much about becoming the victim of a property or violent crime. About 10% of the population is 65 and up.

• Total population: 17,249
• Population 65 and older: 14,419
• Monthly cost of living (including mortgage): $4,734
• Property crime rate: 5.218
• Violent crime rate: 0.232

Ranked first on this list is Laguna Woods, a small city where nearly 84% of the population is 65 years or older. Not only is this the safest place to live, based on the data, but it’s also reasonably inexpensive for retirees.

For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities in California to find the safest places to retire. First, GOBankingRates found cities in California, along with their total population, population ages 65 and over, household total and household median income, all sourced from the US Census American Community Survey; the property crimes committed and the violent crime committed, as sourced from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer; the cost of living indexes, as sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces; the livability index, as sourced from AreaVibes; and the average single family home value, as sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index. To qualify for this study, the total population had to be at least 10,000. Using the average home value, the average mortgage can be calculated by assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data. Using the cost of living indexes, the average expenditure costs can be calculated using the national average expenditure costs for retired residents, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey for retired residents. The average expenditure costs and mortgage costs can be used to calculate an average total cost of living for each city. Using the property and violent crime data, the violent crime rate and property crime rate per 1,000 residents can be calculated. The property crime and violent crime rates were both scored and summed and were sorted to show the safest places in California to retire. All data was collected on and is up to date as of July 31, 2024.

Photo Disclaimer: Please note photos are for representational purposes only. As a result, some of the photos might not reflect the locations listed in this article.