Santa Ana is a city of 305,500 in Orange County, about 30 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Santa Ana?
Santa Ana grades C for property crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 81% of Americans live. Theft makes up 49% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B, and vehicle theft grades D.
C
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 453 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
19% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Santa Ana as a whole, and 81% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Santa Ana scores 453.
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 Santa Ana, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Ana, 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 Santa Ana
One part of Santa Ana stands out for burglary. Burglaries in Delhi & Madison Park, in southeast Santa Ana, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Santa Ana, 55% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Santa Ana
Property crime varies widely across Santa Ana: 34% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 40% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Santa Ana run from A- to F.
34%26%40%
A or B 34%C 26%D or F 40%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Centennial Park, Valley Adams & Laurelhurst, southwestCar thefts run at about half the rate in the rest of Santa Ana.B646
2Artesia Pilar, northwestCar thefts run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Santa Ana.B-613
Neighborhood areas of Santa Ana, 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.
Is property crime going up in Santa Ana?
Reported property crime in Santa Ana has fallen 19% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 21 to 17 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 17%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Santa AnaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Santa Ana. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Santa Ana
Property, US
2016
+2%
+15%
2017
+2%
+12%
2018
-7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+8%
-8%
2021
+11%
-10%
2022
-1%
-6%
2023
-2%
-7%
2024
-19%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Santa Ana
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Ana has about 23 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 16% 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 Santa Ana, about 49% 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 Santa Ana
Santa Ana has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Santa Ana, 24% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 49% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (25%)
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 Santa Ana and nearby cities
Santa Ana has more property crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities. Irvine and North Tustin have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Santa Ana. 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, Santa Ana has more property crime than 69% of them.
Density, night lighting and walkability in Santa Ana
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Santa Ana apart: it has 87% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 0.5 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places where many residents live in dense blocks 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.87% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 94% of US city residents
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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 (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 91% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 88% 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 Santa Ana: C- (29 of 100).8 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 81% 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 Santa Ana
Property crime costs Santa Ana about $54 million a year, or $175 per resident and about $717 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
$6.2 million
$20
Theft
$18 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$15 million
$49
Arson
$600,000
$2
Vandalism
$14 million
$45
Total
$54 million
$175
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.
