The San Diego metro area, the 18th-largest in the US, is home to 3.29 million residents; San Diego itself is the second-largest city in California · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in the San Diego area?
The San Diego area earns a B+ for property crime, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Theft makes up 51% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A-, and vehicle theft grades B. The city of San Diego itself grades B for property crime.
B+
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 736 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
37% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than the San Diego area as a whole, and 63% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The San Diego area scores 736.
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 San Diego, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the San Diego area, 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 the San Diego area
One part of San Diego stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Bario Logan, East Village & Balboa Park, in south San Diego, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in the San Diego area
In the San Diego area, 70% of residents live in areas graded A or B for property crime, 14% in areas graded C and 16% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across the San Diego area run from A+ to F.
70%14%16%
A or B 70%C 14%D or F 16%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhood areas of the city of San Diego, ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Cities and towns in the San Diego metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Is property crime going up in the San Diego area?
Reported property crime in the San Diego area has fallen 18% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 17 to 14 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 11%.
Property crime, change since 2019
San Diego areaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the San Diego area. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, San Diego area
Property, US
2016
+12%
+15%
2017
+3%
+12%
2018
+2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-10%
-8%
2021
+9%
-10%
2022
+1%
-6%
2023
-8%
-7%
2024
-18%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in the San Diego area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the San Diego area has about 19 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 22% less than the US as a whole and 33% 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 the San Diego area, about 51% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
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.
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 the San Diego area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the San Diego area, 2022 to 2024.
In the San Diego area, 38% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 46% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (42%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (28%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (30%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in the San Diego area and nearby metro areas
The San Diego area has less property crime than 8 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Oxnard area and the Phoenix area have less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the San Diego area. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the San Diego area has more property crime than 65% of them.
Empty homes, density and night lighting in the San Diego area
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set the San Diego area apart: it has 4.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 46% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few empty homes tend to report less burglary, yet burglary runs higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.4.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 87% of Americans in metro areas
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.46% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 83% of Americans in metro areas
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.93% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 65% of Americans in metro areas
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 the San Diego area
Property crime costs the San Diego area about $474 million a year, or $144 per resident and about $409 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
$52 million
$16
Theft
$160 million
$49
Vehicle theft
$160 million
$49
Arson
$8.8 million
$3
Vandalism
$93 million
$28
Total
$474 million
$144
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. These figures cover the whole San Diego metro area. 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
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.
