Executive Summary
Domestic violence is one of the most common forms of victimization. Nationally, over one million people reported being victims of domestic violence in 2024.1 This report focuses on domestic violence in California during the past decade, showing trends in calls for assistance, arrests, and convictions for domestic violence offenses. It shows the characteristics of people who are convicted of domestic violence and the sentences they receive for these offenses. It also shows how rates of domestic violence vary across counties.
The report draws on two data sources provided by the California Department of Justice (DOJ). The Domestic Violence Related Calls for Assistance (DVRCA) data are reported to the DOJ by law enforcement agencies throughout the state. DVRCA data includes counts of the number of domestic violence related calls and the number of cases involving weapons, strangulation, or suffocation. The second source is the Automated Criminal History System (ACHS), which includes individual-level records of arrests and convictions in the state. Data are analyzed for the period from 2015 through 2024 to establish a baseline understanding of domestic violence offending in California. It is important to note that official reports of the prevalence of domestic violence that are based on police or court data will likely undercount the true prevalence of victimization.
Key Findings
Domestic violence calls for assistance are increasingly likely to report the use of a weapon.
There were about 163,000 calls for assistance for domestic violence in 2024 (Figure 1). Nearly 100,000 of these calls (61%) reported the use of a weapon, which represents a 44% increase over the past decade. The state began collecting data on calls reporting strangulation or suffocation in 2018. Rates of this type of violence have remained level over the period of data collection. In 2024, 6% of calls reported this type of violence.
Rates of domestic violence calls for assistance vary widely across California counties
Over the past decade, annual call rates ranged from fewer than 250 calls per 100,000 people in Marin, Nevada, Placer, and San Luis Obispo counties to 750 or more calls per 100,000 people in Fresno, Kern, and Ventura counties (Table 1). Sonoma and Yolo counties represent the county median with 394 calls for assistance per 100,000 people.
Domestic violence arrests declined by about 2% over the past decade.
There were approximately 1.3 million arrests for domestic violence in California between 2015 and 2024 (Figure 2).2 Arrests increased between 2015 and 2019 by 8,400 (7%) but then declined sharply with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While the number of arrests did increase after reaching a pandemic low point, the arrest count has not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, there were about 2,600 (2%) fewer domestic violence arrests than in 2015. This decline was driven by a drop in felony arrests, which typically involve serious injury to the victim. Misdemeanor arrests, which typically do not involve sustained injury, remain more common than felony arrests, representing 56% of all domestic violence arrests.
Convictions for domestic violence also declined over the past decade.
Annual domestic violence conviction counts were stable at about 23,000 per year between 2015 and 2019 (Figure 3).3 As is the case for arrests, convictions for domestic violence offenses dropped off sharply in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although convictions increased during the years that followed, they remain substantially lower than pre-pandemic levels, with about 6,600 fewer convictions in 2023 than in 2015. This change represents a 29% decline, driven by declines in both felony and misdemeanor convictions. Misdemeanors represent 75% of the approximately 186,000 convictions for domestic violence between 2015 and 2023.
About nine in ten people convicted of domestic violence are male.
The share male is highest for felony domestic violence convictions relative to misdemeanors (94% v. 87%; Table 2). About half of people convicted of domestic violence in California over the past decade were Hispanic, more than one-in-four (27%) were White, and less than one-in-five (17%) were Black. Less than 2% of people convicted of domestic violence were Asian or Pacific Islander, and about 3% were identified as another race or ethnicity. Black people were more likely to receive felony convictions, while other groups were more likely to receive misdemeanor convictions. The average age of people convicted of domestic violence during this period was 35 years.
People convicted of domestic violence have an average of two prior arrests for domestic violence.
People convicted of domestic violence over the past decade had 1.9 prior arrests and 0.5 prior convictions for domestic violence on average, and a total of 3.6 prior convictions for any offense (Table 3). Among those convicted of domestic violence, 41% of people had a prior felony conviction, 13% had a prior serious conviction, and 4% had a prior violent conviction. Those with felony convictions had more substantial criminal histories compared with those convicted of misdemeanors.
The domestic violence conviction rate varies substantially by county.
The annual average number of convictions was fewer than 25 per 100,000 people in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties over the past decade (Table 4). In contrast, the conviction rate was four times greater — with over 100 convictions for domestic violence annually per 100,000 people — in seven counties, including Butte, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Shasta, and Tulare counties. There are many possible drivers of these differences in conviction rates, including differences in the prevalence of domestic violence, differences in the likelihood of reporting or prosecuting domestic violence, or differences in the availability or quality of intervention programs.
Most people convicted of domestic violence are sentenced to a combination of jail and probation time.
Sentences to probation often include jail terms of up to 12 months referred to as a “jail condition.” Between 2015 and 2023, the share of sentences that included both jail and probation time decreased from 73% to 63% (Figure 4). In contrast, the share of convictions with sentences to jail only increased from 10% to 17% over this period. The share of convictions with a probation only sentence increased slightly from 10% in 2015 to 11% in 2023. Similarly, the share sentenced to prison increased from 8% to 9% over this timeframe.
Conclusion
Over the past decade, the number of domestic violence calls for assistance has held steady, but calls involving the use of a weapon have increased. Following a period of increasing arrests for domestic violence, arrests declined substantially in 2020 and have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Convictions for domestic violence also dropped off markedly during the pandemic. Although conviction rates increased from that low point, they remain substantially below pre-pandemic levels in California.
The vast majority of those convicted of domestic violence are male, and the average age of someone convicted is 35 years old. About half of people convicted of domestic violence are Hispanic, over one-quarter are identified as White, and less than one-fifth are identified as Black. People convicted of domestic violence have an average of two prior arrests for domestic violence.
Counties vary widely in the rates of domestic violence calls assistance. At the low end, some counties have fewer than 250 annual calls for assistance per 100,000 people, while those at the high end have about three times that rate (or more than 750 calls per 100,000). Conviction rates also vary widely across counties, ranging from fewer than 25 convictions per 100,000 people to more than four times this rate (more than 100 convictions per 100,000). This wide variation across counties may be driven by several factors, including differences in the prevalence of domestic violence or differences in the likelihood of reporting or prosecuting these offenses. Differences may also be driven by variation across counties in the availability and quality of intervention programs. These county-level differences could be studied to better understand the causes of domestic violences, as well as to support counties with low rates of domestic violence in sharing information and resources on effective interventions.
About this Research
This research was made possible through a partnership between the California Policy Lab at the University of California and the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code, a state agency that studies and makes recommendations to improve California’s criminal justice system.
Acknowledgements
Support for this research was generously provided by the Blue Shield of California Foundation, the California State Association of Counties, and the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code. We also thank other supporters of the California Policy Lab, including the University of California Office of the President Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives, M21PR3278, The James Irvine Foundation, and the Woven Foundation for their generous support. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders. All errors should be attributed to the authors.
The California Policy Lab generates research insights for government impact. We are an independent, nonpartisan research institute at the University of California. This research publication reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of our funders, our staff, our advisory boards, the California Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code, the State of California Department of Justice, or the Regents of the University of California.
ENDNOTES
- Tapp, S. N., and E. J. Coen. 2025. “Criminal Victimization, 2024.” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. ↩︎
- The arrest and conviction counts presented in this analysis are a lower bound on domestic violence offending. We include offenses that explicitly reference domestic violence, such as PC 273.5 and PC 243(E)(1), but we exclude offenses, such as PC 240, that may be charged in domestic violence cases but are indistinguishable from assault and battery more generally ↩︎
- Although we present calls for assistance and arrest data through 2024, we restrict our analysis of changes in convictions over time to the period 2015 and 2023 due to possible delays in updates to conviction. These delays may result in artificially low conviction levels. ↩︎
Suggested Citation: Bird, M., Skog, A., Lacoe, J., Yang, E. (2026). Domestic Violence in California. California Policy Lab, University of California. https://capolicylab.org/domestic-violence-in-california/