The crime rate in Lakewood is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 28 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Lakewood is 1 in 35. Based on FBI crime data, Lakewood is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to California, Lakewood has a crime rate that is higher than 78% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

Importantly, when you compare Lakewood to other communities of similar population, then Lakewood crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Lakewood 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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Lakewood occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Lakewood; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 212. This equates to a rate of 5 per one thousand inhabitants.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Lakewood's rate for property crime is 24 per one thousand population. This makes Lakewood 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 Lakewood is one in 42.

Importantly, we found that Lakewood 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 Lakewood is one in 182.