KEY TAKEAWAYS
- California’s per capita income of $80,440 is the 4th highest in the nation, yet its violent crime rate of 628 per 100,000 ranks 16th, and its property crime rate of 1,666 per 100,000 ranks 13th.
- California outpaces all three of its bordering states on the HIHC Index, leading Arizona by 13.05 points and Nevada by just 0.03 points, while its Pacific neighbor, Oregon, earns $14,000 less per capita yet posts a higher HIHC score due to dramatically worse property crime.
- California’s High Income, High Crime Index score of 74.29 out of 100 is 29.67 points above last-place Mississippi and 17.93 points above economic twin New Jersey, which earns just $383.25 less per capita annually yet reports 52% less violent crime and 29% less property crime.
California is the wealthiest state to appear in the top 5 of the HIHC Index, earning more per capita than Colorado, Washington, and New Mexico above it. Yet that affluence has not insulated its nearly 39.3 million residents from persistent crime. A resident of New Jersey, earning a virtually identical paycheck, is about twice as likely to avoid violent crime and roughly 29% less likely to experience property crime.
The study conducted by Simmrin Law Group, a Los Angeles-based criminal defense firm, examined FBI crime data (2021–2025) and U.S. Census Bureau-American Community Survey data across all 50 U.S. states to identify where economic prosperity fails to translate into public safety.
California State Profile
| Population (2021–2025 Avg.) | 39,265,487 |
| Avg. Per Capita Income (2021–2024) | $80,440 |
| National Income Rank | 4th |
| Avg. Annual Violent Crimes | 246,496 |
| Avg. Annual Property Crimes | 654,221 |
| Violent Crime Rate (per 100K) | 628 |
| Property Crime Rate (per 100K) | 1,666 |
| National Violent Crime Rank | 16th highest |
| National Property Crime Rank | 13th highest |
| High Income, High Crime Index | 74.29 |
| National HIHC Rank | 5th of 50 |
Top 10 High Income, High Crime States Nationally
| Rank | State | Avg. Per Capita Income | Violent Crime Rate (per 100K) | Property Crime Rate (per 100K) | HIHC Index |
| 1 | Colorado | $77,959 | 819 | 2,783 | 87.12 |
| 2 | Washington | $79,068 | 769 | 2,678 | 85.71 |
| 3 | New Mexico | $54,419 | 1,140 | 2,521 | 78.48 |
| 4 | Oregon | $66,153 | 645 | 2,539 | 74.43 |
| 5 | California | $80,440 | 628 | 1,666 | 74.29 |
| 6 | Nevada | $65,065 | 787 | 2,244 | 74.26 |
| 7 | Tennessee | $61,701 | 880 | 2,134 | 73.41 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | $59,265 | 880 | 2,191 | 72.55 |
| 9 | Alaska | $70,899 | 835 | 1,531 | 72.22 |
| 10 | Arkansas | $55,732 | 968 | 2,092 | 71.57 |
California edges out sixth-place Nevada by a mere 0.03 index points and leads tenth-place Arkansas by 2.72 points.
California vs. Bordering States
| State | Avg. Per Capita Income | Violent Crime Rate (per 100K) | Property Crime Rate (per 100K) | HIHC Index | National Rank | Gap to California (Index Pts) |
| California | $80,440 | 628 | 1,666 | 74.29 | 5th | — |
| Oregon | $66,153 | 645 | 2,539 | 74.43 | 4th | +0.14 |
| Nevada | $65,065 | 787 | 2,244 | 74.26 | 6th | -0.03 |
| Arizona | $61,266 | 555 | 1,600 | 61.24 | 30th | -13.05 |
California sits at the center of a tightly clustered Pacific-Western crime corridor. Oregon, earning over $14,000 less per capita, narrowly outscores California on the HIHC Index by 0.14 points, propelled by a property crime rate of 2,539 that is 52% higher than California’s.
California vs. the Bottom 10 States (Lowest HIHC Index)
| Rank | State | Avg. Per Capita Income | Violent Crime Rate (per 100K) | Property Crime Rate (per 100K) | HIHC Index | Gap to California (Index Pts) |
| 5 | California | $80,440 | 628 | 1,666 | 74.29 | — |
| 41 | Pennsylvania | $66,955 | 336 | 1,233 | 56.37 | -17.92 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | $77,943 | 176 | 929 | 56.36 | -17.93 |
| 43 | Indiana | $60,377 | 428 | 1,218 | 54.53 | -19.76 |
| 44 | Kentucky | $54,623 | 445 | 1,444 | 53.68 | -20.61 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | $66,491 | 274 | 1,099 | 53.54 | -20.75 |
| 46 | Florida | $67,777 | 285 | 871 | 52.46 | -21.83 |
| 47 | Maine | $63,845 | 200 | 1,080 | 50.26 | -24.03 |
| 48 | Idaho | $58,540 | 362 | 803 | 48.31 | -25.98 |
| 49 | West Virginia | $51,844 | 404 | 1,067 | 47.81 | -26.48 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $48,940 | 339 | 1,054 | 44.62 | -29.67 |
California’s score of 74.29 exceeds last-place Mississippi’s 44.62 by nearly 30 points, a gap that spans almost one-third of the entire index.
Methodology
This analysis extracted annual crime counts, income figures, and population estimates for all 50 U.S. states from federal data repositories, covering FBI crime statistics (2021–2025) and the U.S. Census Bureau – American Community Survey. Raw crime counts were converted to rates per 100,000 residents to enable cross-state comparison. Five-year averages were calculated for crime data and four-year averages for income data to smooth annual fluctuations. Normalized indices were developed on a 0–50 scale for income and 0–25 scale for each crime rate to enable cross-metric analysis.
Data Sources
Crime Statistics: FBI Crime Data Explorer — https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/downloads
Income Data: U.S. Census Bureau – American Community Survey, Table B19301: Per Capita Income in the Past 12 Months — https://data.census.gov
Research Datasheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LnRvVhWbbBkud7mtq27PscEYLuEeL-R1ffkyXNSbGlo
Study by: https://www.simmrinlawgroup.com
About Simmrin Law Group
Simmrin Law Group is a Los Angeles-based criminal defense firm with over 15 years of experience representing clients throughout California. The firm handles cases involving violent crimes, property crimes, drug offenses, and white-collar criminal matters, combining public defense experience with strong relationships in the legal community.
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