About 75 percent of the state's 67,000 registered sex offenders are posted on the state's Megan's Law Web site. This map, using that data, shows the number of sex offenders per 10,000 residents in each county. The clearest pattern: Paroled sex offenders tend to live in rural, affordable areas. Jessica's Law, which effectively banished many sex offenders from urban areas, exacerbated that pattern. Phillip Garrido, charged with kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard, lived in a rural part of Contra Costa County.
Kern, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Merced counties have the highest rate of sex offenders among the state's urban counties.
View Sex offender map in a larger map
Sources: See exact locations and photos of registered sex offenders at
California's Megan's Law Web site. The state doesn't publish addresses for about 25 percent of registered sex offenders, mostly those who have been convicted of less serious crimes. Only those with published addresses are used in this map. A list of crimes for which offenders must register their addresses is
here. Population data from
California Department of Finance.
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