The San Jose metro area, the 36th-largest in the US, is home to 1.97 million residents; San Jose itself is the third-largest city in California · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in the San Jose area?
The San Jose area grades B- for property crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 74% of Americans live. Theft makes up 53% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B, and vehicle theft grades C+. The city of San Jose itself grades C- for property crime.
B-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 592 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than the San Jose area as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The San Jose area scores 592.
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 Jose, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the San Jose 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 Jose area
One part of San Jose stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in North Valley, Downtown San Jose & Berryessa, in north San Jose, run at about double the rate in the rest of the city.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in the San Jose area
Property crime varies widely across the San Jose area: 42% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 30% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across the San Jose area run from A+ to F.
42%28%30%
A or B 42%C 28%D or F 30%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of San Jose
1North San Jose, northwestCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of San Jose.B-603
9Alma, Goodyear-Mastic & O'Brien Tract, centralCar thefts run about 80% higher here than in the rest of San Jose.F0
Neighborhood areas of the city of San Jose, 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 Jose 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 Jose area?
Reported property crime in the San Jose area has held about steady since 2019, within 7%. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 24 to 23 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
San Jose areaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the San Jose area. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, San Jose area
Property, US
2016
-10%
+15%
2017
-6%
+12%
2018
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
-8%
2021
+0%
-10%
2022
+3%
-6%
2023
-5%
-7%
2024
-7%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in the San Jose area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the San Jose area has about 28 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 19% more than the US as a whole and close to 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 Jose area, about 53% 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 Jose area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the San Jose area, 2022 to 2024.
In the San Jose area, 38% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 48% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (41%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (29%)
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 Jose area and nearby metro areas
The San Jose area has more property crime than 7 of its 10 nearest metro areas. The Oxnard area and the San Diego area have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the San Jose area. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Density, night lighting and empty homes in the San Jose area
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, one sets the San Jose area apart: it has 57% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more car theft, and it runs high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.57% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 87% 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.96% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 86% of Americans in metro areas
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.5.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 77% 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 Jose area
Property crime costs the San Jose area about $428 million a year, or $217 per resident and about $633 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
$61 million
$31
Theft
$151 million
$76
Vehicle theft
$135 million
$69
Arson
$8.2 million
$4
Vandalism
$73 million
$37
Total
$428 million
$217
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 Jose 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
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.
