El Centro is a city of 47,200 in Imperial County and the main city of the El Centro metro area, home to 180,200 · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in El Centro?
El Centro earns an A- for property crime, safer than the neighborhoods where 53% of Americans live. Theft makes up 44% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A-, and vehicle theft grades A-.
A-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 841 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
53% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than El Centro as a whole, and 47% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. El Centro scores 841.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in El Centro, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in El Centro, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in El Centro
Thefts are uncommon. El Centro has thefts at about half the US rate: 6.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in El Centro
Every part of El Centro where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across El Centro run from A+ to B.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Property crime rates and types in El Centro
CrimeGrade™ estimates El Centro has about 14 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 41% less than the US as a whole and 50% less than California.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in El Centro, about 44% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
The El Centro Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in El Centro
El Centro has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In El Centro, 32% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 40% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (44%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (30%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in El Centro and nearby cities
Of the 6 cities closest to El Centro, 4 have less property crime. Seeley and Imperial have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from El Centro. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, El Centro is safer than 60% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set El Centro apart: it has 10.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of C- (31 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 56% of residents in El Centro live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.10.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 86% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 84% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft.C- (31 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 82% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.40% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 76% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for El Centro: F (1 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 66% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 66% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs El Centro
Property crime costs El Centro about $5.3 million a year, or $113 per resident and about $347 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$960,000
$20
Theft
$1.5 million
$31
Vehicle theft
$1.6 million
$35
Arson
$170,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$23
Total
$5.3 million
$113
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
